A former furniture removal man was yesterday charged with stealing gold and cash worth about €23,000 from a house in Birkirkara in 2008.

Roderick Gerada, 32, from Marsa was arrested after fresh evidence came to light. During investigations he was let out on police bail while fingerprints lifted from the crime scene were compared with his, Police Inspector Keith Arnaud said.

Defence lawyer Franco Debono challenged the decision to arraign Mr Gerada under arrest and said the police should make a distinction between arraigning under arrest and arresting to investigate.

Dr Debono cited a European Court judgment and said that considering that the alleged crime took pace more than two years ago and that the accused was trusted enough by the police to be granted police bail, his client should never have been arraigned under arrest and instead charged normally.

He asked Magistrate Doreen Clarke to refer the case to the Constitutional Court to seek a declaration that his client’s human rights had been breached. However, the magistrate dismissed the request and told the lawyer he could file an application in the Constitutional Court about the matter, which he did within the hour.