Five men caught red-handed early on Saturday morning while trying to steal from bonded stores in Marsa admitted to the criminal wrongdoing upon arraignment on Sunday.

Neil Zammit, 25, from Birżebbuġa, Etienne Buttigieg, 26, from Kirkop, Eman Neil Galdes, 24, from Santa Luċija, Kyle Micallef, 20, from Floriana and Ogden Caruana Smith, a 19-year-old from Cospicua, were escorted to court to face arraignment over the attempted robbery.

They were arrested after police received information about the presence of suspicious-looking men in the area of il-Moll tal-Ħatab in Marsa at around 1am on Saturday.

Officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit who converged on site came across the suspects, wearing dark clothes and gloves.

Fresh signs of break-in as well as two sizeable bolt cutters further confirmed suspicions.

All five men were on Sunday charged with attempted aggravated theft as well as wilful damage to third party property.

Zammit, Buttigieg and Galdes were separately charged with relapsing. 

All five co-accused, accompanied in court by their girlfriends and family members, registered an admission.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Ian Farrugia, addressed each and every one of the men at length, urging them to get their life back on the right path.

A request for bail was upheld in respect of four of the accused under various conditions, but was turned down in respect of the fifth man in view of his criminal record.

At the end of a sitting which lasted almost two hours, the court adjourned the case for judgment later this month. 

Inspectors Joseph Mercieca and Andy Rotin prosecuted.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Francesca Zarb, Roberto Spiteri, Mario Mifsud and Matthew Xuereb were defence counsel.