A police officer said yesterday he did not fear two men charged with burglary from a storeroom in Valletta would tamper with the evidence because residents in the area were so fed up of their behaviour they would not be intimidated.

Police Inspector Pierre Micallef Grimaud was speaking about 36-year-old Jason Caruana, also known as Il-Killer, and his friend Curtis Bakoush, 21, both of Valletta. They stand charged with stealing €233 worth of groceries and relapsing.

The two allegedly broke into a storeroom belonging to a greengrocer on Wednesday and helped themselves to bottles of Coca-Cola, croissants and even a microwave oven, among other items.

Defence lawyers Mark Mifsud Cutajar and Marion Camilleri asked for bail on grounds that their clients were innocent until proven guilty.

They noted the prosecuting officer was not worried about the accused being granted bail. An indication of this, they said, was that he did not mention any fear of tampering with evidence, which was the usual argument raised by the police in opposing bail.

On hearing this, the officer said he was not worried about the tampering of evidence because the residents were so fed up with their behaviour that they would not be intimidated by them.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli, however, still decided to remand the accused in custody.