Benjamin James Thornley and Samuel James Wayne Griffiths to front hearing on arson charges after van fire in Tamworth

Benjamin James Thornley and Samuel James Wayne Griffiths had their matters called in Tamworth Local Court on Monday.

Magistrate Julie Soars ordered the co-accused cases to proceed together and set a hearing date for January next year.

The court heard both would be maintaining their not guilty pleas to one charge each of destroying property worth more than $5000 in company using fire.

Thornley's Legal Aid defence solicitor Patricia Simpson told the court the hearing could take up to four hours.

"There are about six police witnesses and four other witnesses," she said.

"There is a co-accused."

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Ms Soars said a hearing that long would have to be scheduled in the new year.

Thornley appeared in court via video link from custody for the mention, and Ms Simpson requested the accused front his hearing virtually as well.

Griffiths did not appear in court when solicitor Tammy White dialled in briefly via video link.

She accepted the hearing date already set by Ms Soars.

Griffiths' bail was continued.

The men are accused of setting fire to a Toyota Tarago van, which erupted in flames outside a business on Aberdeen Street at about 3am on March 25.

Police launched a three-month investigation into the incident, including a public appeal for information after releasing CCTV, before Oxley officers homed in on Thornley and Griffiths at a Robert Street unit.

Police stormed an outlaw motorcycle gang gathering in Tamworth on June 30 and claim the arson is connected to the club's members.

The police case is that the van was connected to a separate investigation after cash and illicit drugs were uncovered inside it during a search on March 22.

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