A man who shared lewd footage of his former partner just weeks after pleading guilty to committing the same offence, was back in the dock last week, once again charged with revenge porn.

The 44-year-old from Zejtun was charged with circulating pornographic material featuring his former partner in November and December.

Magistrate Natasha Galea Sciberras heard how the man, whose name was  withheld to protect the identity of the victim, had already been charged with circulating similar material in October.

On that occasion, he pleaded guilty to disclosing private sexual footage without the woman’s consent, with intent to cause her distress or harm.  

He pleaded guilty to the charges and was handed a suspended sentence.

However, just three weeks later, the footage re-emerged, this time being circulated by another Facebook profile.

The victim filed another police report and investigations led the police to the same IP address used by the accused. The Facebook profile being used was a fake one.

The man pleaded not guilty to the charges, which also included the misuse of telecommunications equipment and committing a crime during the operational term of a suspended sentence.

He was not granted bail because the alleged victim as well as those who received the footage still had to testify in court.  

Defence lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri asked the court to appoint a psychologist so their client could get the treatment he required. They also asked the court to recommend that the man be kept at Mount Carmel Hospital. Magistrate Galea Sciberras upheld the requests.

Police Inspector Omar Zammit prosecuted.