It took Appoġġ eight hours to realise that the German children trusted in their care by the court had gone missing, a magistrate was told yesterday.

Magistrate Joanne Vella Cuschieri heard that it was only through an e-mail that the agency was informed that the children had been secretly flown to Germany.

Joseph Antoncich, from Child Protection Services, said in court Appoġġ had no reason to doubt the integrity of the German social workers, adding there was a relationship based on trust that had been breached.

He was summoned to testify by the magistrate who is hearing the case filed by Sabrina Albrecht, 30, who is asking the court to order the return of her two children.

The court was also asked to order an inquiry into how the children were secretly removed from Malta while under the care of Appoġġ .

The agency’s lawyers argued yesterday there was no need for this because the government had already ordered an inquiry into what had happened. Judge Philip Sciberras was nominated to conduct the inquiry.

Magistrate Vella Cuschieri on Wednesday harshly criticised Appoġġ , saying it was “less able” to take care of the children than their mothers.

The process to have [the children] repatriated was taking too long

The case concerns three German children who were placed under an “emergency temporary order” after one of them was found in a Marsalforn field on his own.

German social workers said the process in Malta about the children who had originally been reported missing in Germany had been taking too long but it emerged in court yesterday that no proceedings had yet been initiated by the time the children were flown out.

Magistrate Vella Cuschieri asked whether Appoġġ had filed an application to have the children returned to Malta.

The agency’s lawyers said no such request had been made, adding that the Germans were arguing there was no sufficient grounds to ask for their return because the children had been taken from Malta and not from their habitual residence, which in this case was Germany.

Mr Antoncich said that at 8.30am on July 6 a German social worker took the two children, Jeremias, four, and Jaydan, two, saying she would be accompanying them to the beach.

It was not the first time they were taken out. However, this time, they were taken to Malta International Airport and caught the 1pm flight to Germany.

At 5pm Mr Antoncich said he received an e-mail from the social worker saying she had taken the children back to Germany “because the process to have them repatriated was taking too long” and that this was something “unacceptable”.

She also sent a text message to the other German social worker in Malta, who was looking after nine-year-old Julia Wiedekind, who is still here, to inform her that she had not told her about the secret plan “because she did not want her to get into trouble”.

He said the second social worker was “genuinely surprised” by what her colleague had done and was also “under shock”.

Mr Antoncich said the German social workers usually stayed with the children from 8.30am to 5pm, when the Maltese care workers took over.

He said he suspected that the social worker who took the children “was the mastermind behind it all”.

Asked about travel documents, he said the children did not have any except for baptism certificates, adding he suspected temporary travel documents had been prepared in Germany.

He said the German Embassy in Malta was also surprised by what had happened.

Magistrate Vella Cuschieri is expected to hand down her decision next week.