Two men were this evening remanded in custody after they pleaded not guilty to seriously injuring the manager of a Paceville club, who may lose his eye as a result of the incident.

Luke Farrugia, 24, from Msida and David Gauci, 24, from Bugibba were charged with seriously injuring Fabian Camilleri. Mr Gauci was also charged with being an accomplice. Both were also charged with slightly injuring Osama Murad.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera heard that a fight between Maltese and Arab men took place at Hugo's Bar on Wednesday night in which the bar bouncers and manager also got involved.

Defence lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran complained that while his clients were in the dock, the six bouncers who beat them up with a bar stool and threw them down a flight of stairs were not.

Dr Caruana Curran said that he expected more from the police officers investigating the case because he had learnt that one of the club managers turned up at the police station with the CCTV footage but there was no guarantee that it had not been tampered with.

The officers, he said, should have retrieved the footage from the club themselves.

Police Inspector Godwin Scerri said the accused attacked the manager with a crow bar and he needed surgery. It was likely he would lose his eye.

Magistrate Scerri Herrera ordered an investigation into the incident and ordered Insp. Scerri and Inspector Luke Bonello to go straight to Hugo's Bar and retrieve any other CCTV footage related to the incident.

She also opened an inquiry after learning that this had not been held.