Hit-and-run suspect Maximilian Ciantar, who recently set his prison cell on fire after his girlfriend was allegedly found trying to supply him with heroin, will have to pay for the damage.

Acting prison director Abraham Zammit told The Times the damage amounted to a burnt mattress.

However, he refused to say whether Mr Ciantar had ever been tested positive for heroin while in preventative custody and whether he or his girlfriend would be charged in court over the matter.

“The incident was referred to the police for investigation,” he said.

Mr Ciantar, 20, is awaiting court proceedings after he was charged with running over twin girls in Attard in April. A few weeks ago he set his prison cell alight and was saved unharmed by staff.

It was the second time he appeared to put his life at risk while in prison – the first was when he j umped out of the prison’s internal courtyard on the third floor, only to land on a protective net. However, the incidents are not being treated as suicide attempts.

Mr Ciantar was recently granted €1,000 in “moral damages” because his bail condition – being kept at Mount Carmel for drug rehabilitation – breached his human rights.

Mr Ciantar’s lawyer Joe Brincat had argued if he was granted bail he could not be kept in detention. The constitutional court agreed and the judgment has now been sent back to Magistrate Doreen Clarke for a re-evaluation of the bail conditions.