A 40-year-old man from San Gwann was this morning remanded in custody after he pleaded not guilty to stealing or attempting to steal from 11 petrol stations since last February.

He also pleaded not guilty to damaging property, stealing a car, stealing car registration plates and, on a different occasion, setting fire to a car.

Faced with a list of 34 charges, Carmel Hartley pleaded not guilty to conspiring with others to commit these crimes.

Sources said the police arrested Mr Hartley after others allegedly involved in the same crimes mentioned him to the police.

He was further charged with committing the crimes during the operative period of a suspended sentence, relapsing and with committing the crimes while on bail over another case.

The prosecution asked the court to confiscate the €5,000 personal guarantee that was one of the bail conditions in the previous case.

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