Man on extreme child porn charges late for court because he was ‘still showering’

A pensioner charged last month over possession of what was described as “extreme child pornography” was late for the first hearing of the compilation of evidence against him, apparently leaving the court waiting because he had been showering.

A court has begun hearing evidence as the case against 73-year-old Publius Said, who arraigned last month on child porn charges, continued this afternoon.

During his arraignment, the court was told how the police investigation had been prompted by an alert received from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a US-based organisation involved in the fight against child abduction and sexual exploitation.

A subsequent search by the police had discovered four such videos on electronic devices owned by Said, who had claimed in court to be the victim of "a frame-up by the Americans."

The case was called on Friday at its scheduled time, just after 10am, but the accused man was nowhere to be seen.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit asked a police inspector to order Said be brought up from the court lockup, but was told that his transport had left Corradino Correctional Facility late, “because he was still showering.”

When the sitting finally started at 1pm, the first witness, a court-appointed expert, informed the court that the inquiry file was not present in the courtroom and so he could not be heard at this stage.

Said’s defence counsel Franco Debono insisted on full disclosure to his client.

Police Inspector Joseph Busuttil replied that he had disclosed all the evidence that he had in hand at the time that Said was taken into custody.

From the witness stand, the court expert said that was still examining the 15 exhibits, which included three computers, two mobile phones, a tablet computer and several hard drives.

At that point, the court ordered the press out of the courtroom, in view of the nature of the evidence.

The sitting continued behind closed doors.

At the end of the sitting, Said was granted bail against a €3000 deposit and a €20,000 personal guarantee.