Two unemployed men were today remanded in custody after denying their involvement in an attempted robbery at gunpoint at a gaming parlour on Sunday. 

Reno Azzopardi, 30, of Cospicua, and 45-year-old Domenic Fava, from St Paul's Bay, denied the attempted armed robbery at the Fair Play outlet in St Paul's Bay.

They were further charged with illegally holding an employee against his will while Mr Azzopardi alone was charged with slightly injuring him when he allegedly hit him in the face with the weapon he was brandishing. 

Mr Fava alone was charged with supplying the weapon and breaching the conditions of a probation order while Mr Azzopardi alone was charged with being in possession of an unlicensed firearm, using it during the commission of a crime and with using violence to induce a person to do his bidding. 

Mr Azzopardi was also charged with being in possession of heroin in circumstances denoting it was not for his personal use.

He was caught with the drugs on Tuesday when the police approached him over their investigation on the attempted hold-up. 

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit denied their request for bail and remanded them in custody because of the risk that they approach the prosecution's witnesses. 

Police Inspectors Saviour Baldacchino and Malcolm Bondin prosecuted while lawyer Joseph Ellis appeared for the men.