Lee Demanuele, 30, and his 26-year-old brother Sonny, both residing together in Santa Venera, pleaded not guilty to the various charges against them. Sonny Demanuele informed the court that he was unemployed as he was the single parent of a six-year-old child.

The brothers were charged with stealing thousands of liri worth of merchandise from Phoneworld in Naxxar and Phone Connections in Ta’ Xbiex on 25 November 2003.

They were accused of hitting Phoneworld again on 18 March this year and again making off with thousands of liri worth of goods from the shop.

The police also accused them of wilful damage in all the break-ins and stealing an Opel Kadett in Msida, having stolen goods in their possession and being in possession of sharp and pointed instruments. Lee Demanuele, who is also unemployed, was accused of relapsing and breaching the terms of a conditional discharge.

The accused’s lawyer, Stefano Filletti, requested bail but the prosecution strongly objected.

The prosecution, led by police inspector Mario Tonna, said the amount of goods allegedly stolen was not trivial and was calculated to be worth about Lm18,000. He also said that the police had 13 witnesses in the case, most of whom were friends of the accused, and it would be very easy for both the accused to contact these people if they were granted bail. The prosecution also objected on the grounds that the accused could flee the island without answering the charges. “An accomplice is also to be charged and it was very hard indeed to trace the two accused. They were hardly ever at home and we had to do a lot of chasing around,” said the inspector.

The court, presided over by magistrate Miriam Hayman, took all these factors into account and at this stage in proceedings ordered that both accused should be kept on remand. Police inspector Mario Tonna prosecuted while Dr Stefano Filletti appeared for defence.

Meanwhile, in a separate hearing, Lee Demanuele alone was accused of being in possession of heroin without being able to prove it was for his own personal use. The prosecution said that Demanuele had an acute heroin addiction problem, so much so that he abused the drug every day. Mr Tonna said: “For his sake, I would request that he be kept in preventive custody with the option of enrolling in a drug rehabilitation programme.” The court agreed with the prosecution and recommended that the Corradino Correctional Facility allow Lee Demanuele the facility of enrolling in a drug rehabilitation programme.