A man from St Paul's Bay this morning denied breaching bail conditions when he allegedly swore at the victim of an alleged arson attack in which he is one of the accused.

Jonathon Grech, 29, had been granted bail in September after he pleaded not guilty to having set fire to a boat called the Comino Princess in September 2000 and to being an accomplice in the destruction of another boat, the Mermaid in 2007.

This morning, police inspector Anthony Portelli said that on June 19 an argument arose between Jonathon Grech and Paul Zammit, another both owner, while boarding tourists to take them to St Paul's Islands.

Mr Grech arrived at the dock, where his father George was waiting in another boat, and Mr Zammit arrived shortly afterwards.

An argument broke out between Mr Grech (senior) and Mr Zammit.

Mr Grech (junior) intervened and swore at Mr Zammit saying that he would not be manage to put him in prison and that he would show him who did not give a damn.

This, inspector Portelli said, was a clear breach of bail conditions, which ordered him not to speak to any witnesses.

Defence lawyer Manuel Mallia told the court that the police did not quite understand the dynamics of the bail condition in question because, as the courts had ruled on this matter before, it states that one could not speak to a witness specifically about the case.

Mr Grech was granted bail until Monday, when a decision should be taken.