51-year-old bank robber to remain in custody

A Prague district court has ruled that a suspect who held-up a bank in Prague this week will remain in custody ahead of trial. On Wednesday, the 51-year-old assailant held two bank employees hostage for close to four hours, before being apprehended by a special police unit. No one was hurt in the incident. The suspect, who had demanded three million crowns in cash, told police on Thursday he had acted in response to blackmail by an unspecified party. According to reports, the suspect has had trouble with the law in the past, having been sentenced eight times for fraud and financial impropriety over the last three years.