A man who allegedly set fire to the door of his former girlfriend's house was remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to arson on Wednesday.

Boris Kotsev, 33, a Bulgarian national living at Marsascala, was arrested on the basis of CCTV footage from the scene where the fire broke out on the night of November 12 at Msida.

People were inside the house when the fire broke out. 

The Msida premises were rented out to a number of foreign tenants, one of whom was a woman who had been in a relationship with a man known as “Boris from Marsascala.”

A search on the police system resulted in information about a Bulgarian national called Boris who had had a brush with police in St Julian’s on November 4, the court was told. 

Bodycam footage from that earlier incident showed a bearded man, wearing a hoodie and carrying a shoulder bag.

The appearance of that man as well as the bag, appeared to match those of the suspect seen on CCTV footage at the scene of the arson over a week later. Call profile data further confirmed the suspect’s presence at Msida at the time the fire broke out. 

On Tuesday an arrest warrant was issued and the man was arrested, Inspector Mario Xiberras said.

He was charged on Wednesday of wilfully setting fire to the residence knowing that there were people inside as well as damaging the property.

The accused, now clean-shaved and assisted by an interpreter, pleaded not guilty.

A request for bail was objected to in view of fear of absconding.

Moreover, the crime was a serious one, carrying a possible maximum jail term of 12 years, prosecutors said. 

There was also the risk of tampering with evidence since some 15 civilian witnesses were still to testify.

Defence lawyer Daniel Attard argued that the accused had worked in Malta for three years pre-Covid and for several months since then.

He was also in a relationship, had a fixed address and a clean criminal record.

However, Magistrate Rachel Montebello, deemed that the gravity of the case, the fact that the accused was not continuously in Malta as well as the fact that there had been various persons inside the residence, bail was not merited.

Moreover, the court held that there was sufficient evidence to issue a protection order in favour of the woman who had been in a relationship with the accused.

The court finally urged the prosecution to summon its witnesses as soon as possible so that the issue of bail may be reconsidered.

AG lawyers Daniel Tabone and Joseph Camilleri Azarov prosecuted, together with Inspectors Mario Xiberras and Jeffrey Scicluna.

Lawyer Daniel Attard was defence counsel.