Charges against two cousins accused of kidnapping a man at gunpoint were reinstituted by prosecutors yesterday two months after they were dropped.

Macray Bulford, 37, and Kenith Bulford, 35, are alleged to have wounded Dwayne Reid-Anderson, 25, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm while holding him against his will at their Sandys home.

They are further charged with conspiring to use a firearm to commit the kidnap.

All the offences are alleged to have been committed by the cousins on January 2, along with another person not before the court yesterday.

They were first charged in mid-January along with another man from Sandys, 30-year-old Ashley Wellman.

The case against the trio was halted on February 11 after Mr. Reid-Anderson, also from Sandys, indicated he wished to withdraw his complaint.

The prosecution filed an application saying they would not proceed further at that point. However, it was open to them to continue with the case at any point within 12 months.

Just the Bulfords, and not Mr. Wellman, were brought back to Magistrates' Court yesterday. Prosecutor Cindy Clarke said the charges had been reinstated because fresh evidence had come to light.

A fourth, and new charge was also put to the Bulford cousins that they and another person not before the court robbed Mr. Reid-Anderson of $4,000 cash on January 2.

They were not required to enter pleas to the charges as the matter must be dealt with by the Supreme Court.

The defendants share a home in Beacon Hill Lane, Sandys. Kenith Bulford is represented by Saul Froomkin QC and Macray Bulford by Elizabeth Christopher.

After hearing submissions from all the lawyers involved, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner granted each cousin $25,000 bail with one surety each. He ordered them to surrender their travel documents and report to Somerset Police Station each Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.

However, the pair must spend the weekend in custody because the court hearing did not finish until 5.20 p.m and it was too late to process their bail paperwork. That will be done on Monday morning and they must return to Magistrates' Court for a preliminary hearing on June 3.