Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona granted the couple bail after hearing 26-year-old Jennifer Cassar plead guilty to the charges against her while her husband, Simon Cassar, aged 25, denied the same charges.

Mr and Mrs Cassar are accused of setting fire to their house to benefit from the insurance and with filing a false report. Mrs Cassar alone is also accused of lying under oath.

Testifying in court yesterday, Police Sergeant John Tabone said that Mrs Cassar’s original version of what had happened was that she had left an oil burner on when she went to sleep. During the course of the investigations, however, Mrs Cassar admitted that she had started the fire herself.

The sergeant said that when he arrived at work at 4.45am on 15 April, he received a report that a house in St Peter Street in Fgura was on fire. He immediately went to the scene and was told that Mrs Cassar and her child had been taken to hospital for a check-up after inhaling smoke.

Sgt Tabone said that when he went to speak to Mrs Cassar in hospital, she told him that all she remembered was putting on the burner and then falling asleep near her son.

Prosecuting Officer Silvio Valletta then took the witness stand but his testimony cannot be reported because half-way through, Magistrate Micallef Trigona ordered a ban on the inspector’s testimony and ordered the press to leave the courtroom.

At the end of the sitting, the defendants were granted bail against a personal guarantee of Lm500.

Inspectors Valletta and Jesmond Borg prosecuted. Dr Roberto Montalto appeared for Mr Cassar while Dr Frank Cassar appeared for Mrs Cassar.