A man who was sent to jail over expired documents last November was taken to court again on Monday after a court-appointed expert retrieved child pornography on one of the mobile phones he had in his possession upon his arrest. 

Ahmid Rabu, a 34-year old Togo national, had landed in police custody, back in November last year, on account of expired personal documents and no fixed address in Malta. 

However, upon being escorted to the Corradino Correctional Facility, the man was found in possession of five mobile phones and a suspicious substance, yet unidentified. 

A magisterial inquiry had kicked off, leading to the appointment of an IT expert who was tasked with recovering and analysing data on the suspect’s mobile phones. 

That was when the expert came across footage that had been deleted but which, once retrieved, proved to show disturbing scenes of child pornography. 

That discovery landed the man under fresh charges of having allegedly possessed, produced or distributed such indecent material of a person underage. 

The man pleaded not guilty to the charges but his lawyer, Joseph Mifsud argued that the material was not related to Malta. 

“The material was allegedly on a mobile phone, had been deleted and had only been retrieved by experts,” argued the lawyer.

“The material was found in Malta,” countered prosecuting Inspector Paul Camilleri, adding that the mobile had been in the accused’s possession before he was admitted at CCF and stressing the serious nature of the alleged offence. 

After hearing submissions by both parties, the court, presided over by magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech, remanded the accused in custody. 

Inspectors Roxanne Tabone also prosecuted.