A man accused of setting his car on fire in Wellington's Cuba Mall was refused bail when he appeared in Wellington District Court.
Videos posted on the internet show Christopher Charles Polenski, who is 40, setting fire to his car in the crowded mall and claiming it was full of petrol and propane tanks.
Mr Polenski's lawyer Janine Bonifant asked the court to bail her client to his mother's address in the Bay of Islands.
But Judge Peter Hobbs said he had no confidence that the accused would not reoffend while on bail.
Mr Polenski will appear again before the court on 19 December.
