Two men were remanded in custody on Saturday afternoon after pleading not guilty to stealing over €10,000 in cash and jewelry from a couple’s residence almost a fortnight ago.

Jonathan Degiorgio, a 37-year old Santa Venera resident who was out on bail over separate criminal charges, was arraigned alongside 34-year old Bkara resident Christopher Mifsud.

The break-in allegedly took place on August 7 at around 5:30pm at the couple’s home in St Venera.

Investigations led to the arrest of the two suspect thieves who today pleaded not guilty to aggravated theft and wilful damage to the front door of the house.

Degiorgio was separately charged with breaching three previous sets of bail conditions and risked forfeiting a total of almost €20,000 in bail money.

Both were further charged with relapsing.

A request for bail was strongly objected to for various reasons.

Mifsud had recently stepped out of jail, while Degiorgio knew his alleged victim and had even tried to borrow money from him before the alleged incident, the prosecution argued.

After hearing submissions by both parties the court, presided over by Magistrate Noel Bartolo, turned down the request in view of the premature stage of the proceedings and the fear of tampering with evidence.

Inspector Joseph Mercieca prosecuted.

Lawyer Franco Debono was counsel to Degiorgio.

Lawyer Daniel Attard was counsel to Mifsud.