A 64-year-old man was yesterday given a suspended jail term after he was found guilty of defiling two girls aged 11 and 12 in April 2007.

The girls were on a rocky beach near the former Jerma Palace Hotel in Marsascala when they saw Emanuele Bonnici, from Żejtun, sitting down and masturbating.

They told the court they started laughing as they thought he was playing with his finger but on realising the truth they were scared and one called the police on her mobile.

The man claimed he was unable to get an erection, had an enlarged prostate and needed to urinate urgently at the time, which he did.

Magistrate Audrey Demicoli said she found the girls’ version of events to be credible but also pointed out that she felt Mr Bonnici was using his prostate condition as an excuse.

She argued that if all men who suffered from an enlarged prostate – a common condition among elderly men – had to behave as Mr Bonnici claimed and relieve themselves whenever they had the urge, then the country would be a “jungle”. She found him guilty of defiling the girls, handed down a two-year jail term suspended for four years and ordered his name be added to the sex offenders’ register.

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