Man remanded in custody after Bormla arson

A textbook police investigation has resulted in a man being charged with arson in connection with the destruction of a vehicle in Bormla.

Gypsum installer Joshua Gatt, 35, from Tarxien was arraigned under arrest before magistrate Rachel Montebello on Thursday, accused of arson and wilful damage to property.

Police inspector Jeffrey Scicluna, prosecuting together with inspector Mario Xiberras, told the court how they had identified the defendant as a suspect. CCTV gathered in inquiry showed an individual spreading a liquid over the vehicle that was then set alight, but the arsonist’s features were not visible.

But a closer examination of the footage showed that, while the suspect had arrived at the scene in a Peugeot, he had left it in a SsangYong. This fact led the police to suspect that the vehicles he used might have been taxis.

Further checks had confirmed that two bookings had been made using the Bolt taxi platform at the same time and place, for a user by the name of Joshua Gatt.

After discovering that there was only one person in Malta with that name, the police had arrested Gatt.

Before interrogation the suspect had initially refused to consult with a lawyer, but had changed his mind during questioning, the court was told.

Gatt, who was assisted by lawyer Roberto Spiteri, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The defence’s request for bail was objected to by prosecutor Joseph Azarov, on the basis of the early stage of proceedings, together with the gravity of crime, as well as the risk of Gatt tampering with evidence and the fact that five civilian witnesses still had to testify.

Besides this, there was also an objection on the grounds of trustworthiness as Gatt also had several previous convictions for theft.

Investigations showed that he had acute drug addiction problems, explained the prosecutor.

Inspector Scicluna added that the police were still actively investigating the possibility that other people were also involved in the crime.

Spiteri pointed out that his client was not being charged with recidivism and argued that there were no factors which merited Gatt’s continued detention.

The lawyer conceded, when asked by the court, that Gatt had a drug dependency problem and said that the defendant would submit to being shadowed by a social worker.

The court, however, said that it could not fail to take into account the seriousness of Gatt’s alleged crimes, adding that in this context, his dependency on drugs had a negative impact on his chances for bail. The request was denied, with the court ordering Gatt be remanded in custody.

The magistrate upheld the prosecution’s request for a protection order in favour of the intended victim.