Four men who have been accused of a series of muggings at Pieta on Sunday have been remanded in custody after pleading not guilty.

The men are William Kelly Harrison, 27, an unemployed Valletta resident, Priviledge Mupimhidzi, a 33 year old Zimbabwe national who is currently homeless and unemployed, 28 year old Ahmed Salah Lawan, who is a Libyan national living at Zurrieq and also unemployed, and Deko Susanto, 20 an Indonesian national who works as a plasterer but is also currently homeless, were all arraigned on Tuesday.

On Monday, the family of a 68 year old man described how he was beaten by a group of robbers who stopped to ask him for a cigarette. When he informed them that he does not smoke, the group began to hit and assault the man.

Prosecuting Inspectors Lydon Zammit explained that on Sunday, officers from the Rapid Intervention Unit were patrolling Hamrun, were asked for assistance in the vicinity of Sa Maison Gardens by a man saying that three men had assaulted him and tried to rob him.

Police on the trail of the three main suspects soon arrested two of the men, Mupimhidzi and Lawan. Then a teenager approached the policemen to report another similar incident and gave the police a description of the third suspect. Later on police tracked down Harrison.

Investigators had discovered that another mugging had taken place on Saturday, allegedly involving the same three suspects.

Whilst interrogating the suspects, investigators found out that a fourth suspect was allegedly involved. All four of the men were arraigned on Tuesday, all pleading not guilty to the various muggings.

The first three were charged with a violent robbery on Sunday afternoon, another attempted robbery on the same day and another mugging on 8 September.

Mupimhidzi, Harrison and Susanto were separately charged with another mugging at Jubile Grove on Saturday afternoon, and also a violent incident concerning the 68 year old Maltese victim, which took place in the Sa Maison area on Sunday. Mupimhidzi was separately charged with infliction injuries upon the victim. Harrison and Mupimhidzi were also charged with relapsing.

Lawyers of all four accused made no request for bail, as none of the men had fixed addresses.

Inspector Lydon Zammit and Mario Xiberras prosecuted. Lawyers Mark Mifsud Cutajar, Josette Sultana and Graziella Tanti were legal aid counsel.