The 15 and 16-year-old boys appeared in Armidale Children’s Court on Friday morning charged in relation to the January 10 incident where a 34-year-old man was stabbed on the town’s bike path.

Magistrate Michael Holmes refused the pair bail and ordered they remain in juvenile detention until the cases return to court later this month.

The pair were arrested by detectives in East Armidale just before 7pm on Thursday and are each charged with assault with intent to rob causing wounding in company.

The arrest breakthrough came 48 hours after police told The Leader they had ramped up the investigation into three violent robberies.

“The juvenile pair were arrested in relation to a robbery that occurred at about 5.05pm on January 10 where three juveniles confronted a 34-year-old man walking through parkland in Armidale,” New England Inspector Roger Best told The Leader.

“During the attempted robbery, one of the offenders was armed with a knife, one was armed with a golf club and a third was unarmed.

“The offender armed with a knife has brandished a knife towards the victim and demanded he hand over his property.

“The offender armed with the knife has stabbed the victim once to the left side of his stomach.”

Police allege the 15-year-old arrested on Thursday night was armed with a golf club and struck the victim once to the right knee, while the 16-year-old was allegedly unarmed at the time.

“Armidale detectives are currently making inquiries in relation to the whereabouts of the third offender who they identified through their investigations,” Inspector Best said.

“This is a very serious offence and we would urge this young person to hand himself in to police and speak with investigators.”

Inspector Best said the arrest of two juveniles was testament to the intense investigation by detectives.

“It’s a very pleasing result to see these offenders arrested,” he said.

“We take these offences very seriously because of the harm to victims and the community and our historical crime data in Armidale shows our robbery arrest rates are very high for offences.”