A 64-year-old man tried to blackmail a woman who sent him pornographic photos of herself over Facebook, a court heard today. 

The man, who lives in Marsa but hails from Kirkop, is alleged to have started blackmailing the woman after she refused to have sex with him.

Prosecutors say he threatened to send the photos to the woman's husband and two sons, and demanded €1,000 to forget the whole affair. 

A legal letter from lawyer Roberta Lepre of Support Malta, calling for the man to stop harassing the woman, was of little use, the court heard.  Rather than drop the matter, the man found Dr Lepre on Facebook and told her that the woman had long been teasing him.

Not only did the blackmail not stop, the court was told, but the accused even sent a topless photo of the woman to one of her sons.

The defence argued that the accused had been living in constant hope of starting an affair with the woman and grew desperate when his advances were rejected.

The court, presided by magistrate Monica Vella, granted the man bail against a deposit of €2,000 and a personal guarantee of €5,000. However, since this was a scheduled offence, the accused was remanded in custody for 24 hours.

Magistrate Vella issued a protection order in favour of the woman, confiscated the man's computer and ordered him to hand over his Facebook login details to the Cybercrime Unit, to ensure he did not share any more compromising material. 

The court issued a ban on the publication of the names of the parties concerned since there were still members of the woman's family who were not yet aware of the affair.

Inspector Paula Ciantar prosecuted. Lawyer Carm Mifsud Bonnici was defence counsel, while lawyer Arthur Azzopardi appeared parte civile.