Two men, arraigned over a series of cash, jewellery and cigarette thefts while out on bail, were denied bail upon their arraignment on Wednesday.
James Azzopardi, a 33-year-old construction worker from Ħamrun and Redeemer Cauchi, a 24-year-old Marsa employee, were escorted to court to face charges linking them to a string of thefts, the earliest dating back to last summer.
They were arrested on June 20 following a failed robbery at a Safi property and subsequently granted police bail while investigations continued. On Wednesday, they pleaded not guilty to a raft of charges.
Both were charged with stealing cash, jewellery and other items from two Żejtun residences in April, as well as cigarettes from Marsa stores and a Toyota Liteace model from Rabat in March.
Both were also charged with involvement in an attempted robbery at Safi.
On that occasion, while trying to escape in a Mazda Demio, Cauchi was involved in a collision with a third-party vehicle.
On Wednesday, he was charged with negligent driving, failing to stop after the accident, driving without a licence and refusing to obey legitimate police orders.
Azzopardi was separately charged with stealing cigarettes from a Valletta warehouse in March 2021 and from Marsa stores five months later as well as with another attempted theft from a Qrendi residence in May.
He was charged with causing wilful damage to third-party property and breaching three previous bail decrees.
Cauchi was also charged with breaching bail conditions handed down almost a year ago.
Both were charged with relapsing.
Defence lawyer Arthur Azzopardi pointed out that the accused had been on police bail for the last two and a half months.
Although they were aware of criminal charges in their regard, they abided by police conditions and never tried to approach any prosecution witnesses.
Moreover, most civilian witnesses had already testified in the general inquiry and material evidence, such as CCTV footage, was in police hands.
There was no fear of tampering, argued the lawyer.
Prosecuting Inspector Joseph Mercieca pointed out that investigations were complex and involved five magisterial inquiries.
Moreover, the accused’s trustworthiness was doubtful, added prosecuting Inspector Jonathan Cassar, pointing out that both had breached bail.
That alone was not a sufficient reason to deny bail, countered Azzopardi, citing a decree by the Criminal Court in separate proceedings faced by a man who had breached six bail decrees.
This issue would be resolved if electronic tagging were to be introduced, said the lawyer, pointing out this shortcoming by the legislator.
After hearing submissions, the court, presided over by magistrate Monica Vella, declared that the decision would be delivered in chambers.
Later in the afternoon, the court delivered a decree turning down the request for bail.
Lawyer Jacob Magri was also defence counsel.