An English yachtsman who was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €1,000 last week has been remanded in custody after the Chief Justice ruled that the first court had got it wrong.

Richard Cranston, 41, had already been found guilty by a Sicilian court of importing 3.75 kilograms of cocaine in 2006. He was jailed, served time and eventually arrived in Malta with his yacht's skipper, 40-year-old Lindsey Lynch last week.

Acting on a tip-off, the police searched the yacht when it arrived in Malta and allegedly found over 60 grams of cocaine, a small amount of cannabis resin and 25 grams of cannabis leaves.

When Mr Cranston was arraigned last Friday, Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona granted him bail against a personal guarantee of €1,000, even though the accused has no permanent address and will be staying with his Maltese girlfriend.

The court had also allowed him to work on the boat and even to sleep on it as long as he informed the police.

The Attorney General filed an application asking the Criminal Court to revoke bail.

Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano said that after considering all the circumstances of the case and the fact that the accused did not have a proper residence here, he decided to remand him in custody.

He added that the Magistrates' Court was "manifestly wrong to grant bail at this stage", in view of the clear danger of the accused leaving aboard his yacht. Lawyers Josè Herrera and Veronique Dalli were defence counsel.