The superior courts have thrown out an appeal by 73 year-old convicted child rapist Anthony Pandolfino, who was contesting the prison sentence he received for possession and circulation of child pornography on the grounds of his age.

Pandolfino had been jailed for five years and fined €3,000 in March 2017 after terabytes of indecent and pornographic images of children were found on his hard drive. Prior to that, he had been jailed for 10 years in 2006 for raping, together with his brother, two boys aged 10 and 11.

In his appeal application, the appellant’s lawyer, Roberto Montalto, had argued that there were procedural defects in the man’s conviction and that the punishment meted out did not take into account his advanced age.

The court observed that in cases before the courts of magistrates where the accused pleads guilty before the AG is consulted on whether proceedings are to be summary or not, the court can proceed to judgment if the punishment is not higher than 12 years imprisonment.

The principal complaint was that the man’s early admission had not been taken into consideration by the first court and nor had it borne in mind the man’s age and his health.

Judge Giovanni Grixti noted that early admission did not automatically translate into a reduction in sentence, observing that the first court had taken this into consideration anyway and hadn’t handed down the maximum punishment. The court also noted that the age of the accused had no part in the calculation of punishment and therefore the court said it saw no reason to disturb the discretion used by the first court.