Six men, including the secretary of one of the band clubs and a father and son, were charged yesterday with causing trouble at the Marsa feast on Sunday afternoon.

The men, aged between 21 and 57, were charged with, among other things, offending and threatening the police, assault, resisting the police, disobeying police orders and breaching the peace.

The accused are Victor Cilia, 55, from Marsa, who is the secretary of the Holy Trinity Band Club, father and son Raymond Scicluna, 49 and Clint Scicluna, 21, both from Marsa, Joseph Zammit, 57, from Hamrun, Alexander Debono, 46, from Marsa and John Muscat, 37, from Paola.

They were all charged with threatening the police, disobeying police orders and preventing the police from carrying out their duties. They were also charged with swearing in public, breaching the peace and provoking people to commit a crime.

The father and son were further charged with resisting the police and attempting to assault them and Clint Scicluna alone was also charged with threatening John Muscat with stones and other hard objects.

John Muscat alone was also charged with threatening Raymond Scicluna and his son Clint while they were at the Holy Trinity Band Club.

Victor Cilia, the secretary of the band club, was alone charged with defaming several police officers.

The men, who appeared before magistrate Miriam Hayman, all pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against them and were granted bail against a deposit of Lm500 and a personal guarantee of Lm2,000.

Police Inspector Mario Tonna prosecuted while Dr Jose Herrera and Dr Deborah Delceppo appeared for the accused.