Curtis Vasconcellos and Orwin Peters, who on separate occasions were charged with the attempted murder and robbery of businessman Neezam Khan, were jointly charged with the offences on Friday.
Prosecutor Neville Jeffers said the files were completed for the preliminary inquiry into the matter to begin.
He made a request to the court for the charges of robbery and attempted murder to be withdrawn against the defendants individually and he subsequently requested that the said charges be merged in order to have the defendants charged jointly, since they allegedly acted in concert on the day in question. The requests were granted.
The defendants were not allowed to plead to the charges which were reread to them.
The virtual complainant Neezam Khan who was absent from the previous hearings was present on Friday.
Although Attorney Dexter Todd representing Vasconcellos sought bail for his client, arguing that there was no evidence to directly link the defendant to the charges and he had been incarcerated since his arrest in June, bail was denied by Magistrate Ann Mc Lennan.
Peters was unrepresented.
The matter was adjourned to August 18.
Both men are charged with discharging a loaded firearm at Khan with intent to kill, while robbing him of a $200,000 gold chain and a $500,000 gold ring, on June 6, at Grove Public Road, East Bank Demerara.
Peters, 21, of Bagots-town, was also charged with having in his possession seven .38 rounds without being a licensed firearm holder and being in possession of seven grammes of cannabis on June 10, at Bagotstown.
An eyewitness had related to Stabroek News that four men were seen in the Grove area on the day before the robbery and three returned to rob the businessman.
The witness said that one of the men created a roadblock by sitting on his parked motorcycle in the middle of the road, while the other two proceeded to rob Khan. A shoot-out ensued and Vasconcellos was wounded during the episode, while an accomplice, Michael Grant, 18, of Third Street, Agricola died before receiving medical attention.
Peters had escaped on a motorcycle from the scene but he was subsequently arrested after police received information which prompted them to stop the accused in Bagotstown. During that stop, police allegedly uncovered the ammunition on the defendant and the cannabis which was concealed in his pants crotch.
