Man who set former partner’s car on fire imprisoned for seven years

A man who set his ex-partner’s car on fire after threatening her has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

27-year-old Omar Djelassi from Bormla had been charged over an arson attack in December 2020 in which a Fiat Punto parked on Triq il-Vitorja, Isla was destroyed and another car damaged, together with the façade of a nearby home.

That Fiat Punto was registered to his ex-partner but was being used by her mother at the time.

He was accused by the police of having intentionally set the car on fire, as well as with causing damage to the second vehicle and the house. He denied the charges, as well as others relating to having committed a crime while under a suspended sentence and breaching bail conditions imposed in separate proceedings.

Djelassi denied the charges.

The court was told how the damaged property’s occupant had to be rescued by the CPD from his roof, after a fireball and smoke swept through the house.

It emerged in court that Djelassi had fathered a child with the daughter of the Fiat’s owner and that he had sent a string of Facebook messages from fake social media profiles to his ex-partner and her mother in the days leading up to the arson attack.

The messages also spoke of a previous fire which had completely destroyed the mother’s car, after which she had bought another vehicle.

One of the messages, reproduced in court, reads: “Tonight you’re going to get a bigger fright than your mother because you’re going to end up homeless… I feel better now that your mother’s car caught fire haha".

“And by the way, your mum’s new car is nice. If you think I’m bluffing go on and do so. But just as we burned the other one, we’ll burn this one," the messages went on.

Investigators had discovered that the messages were sent from an IP address originating from Djelassi’s family home.

In her judgement, finding Djelassi guilty of the charges, Magistrate Rachel Montebello said the messages were strong evidence of his involvement in the crimes, noting that the sender had repeatedly and unequivocally stated that he had started the fire, which he also threatened to repeat on the woman’s new car her house.

The court said it was “abundantly satisfied” that Djelassi was involved in the arson attack, observing that this was corroborated by CCTV footage and geolocation data from Djelassi’s mobile phone, which showed him to be in the area of the fire on the night of the arson.

Finding him guilty of the charges, the court sentenced Djelassi imprisonment for five years, to which a previously suspended two-year sentence was added, bringing the total sentence to seven years.

Djelassi was also ordered to pay a total of €8,300 to the various victims, as well as €4,474 in court costs relating to the appointment of experts.

A three-year restraining order and a treatment order for the same duration was also imposed.

Inspectors Mario Xiberras, Jeffrey Scicluna Briffa and Darren Buhagiar prosecuted.

Lawyer Mark Busuttil appeared for Djelassi as legal aid counsel. Lawyer Ishmael Psaila assisted the victims.