A suspected arsonist who stands accused of setting fire to his rented apartment and spray-painting a threatening message to his landlord on one of its walls has had his bail confirmed.
Kurt Lanzon, a 26-year-old towing company worker, is the prime suspect in the April 21 case, when an apartment on Triq Dun Guzepp Gonzi in Tarxien caught fire.
Lanzon told police and firefighters who reached the scene that he and his partner had gone to work earlier that morning and were away when the fire began.
But police suspected foul play, noting that there were no signs of forced entry and finding traces of a fire accelerant on a sofa inside the flat.
Police also discovered that Lanzon and his landlord had an ongoing dispute. In red paint, scrawled on one of the apartment’s walls, they found the message “Sean waslet tieghek” [Sean, you’ll get what’s coming to you].
Investigators then learnt that Lanzon had bought a can of spray paint from a nearby store just hours before the fire. GPS data from his phone showed that he was in the area.
Lanzon was arrested and charged with setting fire to the apartment, wilful damage to third party property, threatening his alleged victim as well as driving without a licence and insurance cover.
He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail last Sunday after the court heard submissions by both parties. Bail was granted against a deposit of €7,000, a personal guarantee of €20,000, signing the bail book twice weekly and a protection order in favour of the alleged victim.
The Attorney General objected to that bail decision and filed an appeal against it one day after Lanzon was arraigned. Arson carries a nine-year sentence, prosecutors noted, and 25 civilian witnesses had yet to testify.
After hearing submissions by both parties Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti declared that there was nothing to indicate that the Magistrates’ Court was unreasonable when setting out those bail conditions.
Since the bail conditions were adequate and appropriate in view of the gravity of the offence, the court rejected the AG’s request and confirmed the accused’s release from preventive custody.
Inspectors Mario Xiberras and Darren Buhagiar are prosecuting.Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb are defence counsel.