A magistrate’s court presided over by magistrate Joseph Apap Bologna yesterday ordered the extradition of a man to Australia where he is to be charged with rape after he was found fit to plead and stand trial.

John Mary Chircop, 41, is wanted in Australia to face charges of violent indecent assault and the rape of a teenager who happens to be his stepdaughter.

He has joint Maltese and Australian nationality and has 17 arrest warrants issued in his name by the state of Victoria for the alleged crimes – which took place between 1 November 2003 and 8 September 2004.

The Attorney General had filed an extradition request to the magistrate’s court for the extradition of Mr Chircop to Australia to stand trial.

The prosecution, led by senior counsel to the Republic Donatella Frendo Dimech, assisted by police inspector Raymond Aquilina, said that Mr Chircop has already been charged in an Australian court but fled from the country less than 48 hours after being granted bail.

She said that if found guilty of all the charges against him in Australia, Mr Chircop could face a very long time in prison, with a maximum of 25 years for each charge and another 25 years for incest.

At first, defence lawyers Michael and Jacqueline Tanti Dougall and Philip Galea Farrugia requested bail for their client but this request was later withdrawn.

A group of psychiatrists appointed by the court to evaluate Mr Chircop’s mental condition concluded that he was fit to stand trial.

In their report, the psychiatrists said that although Mr Chircop had had a difficult childhood, which could affect the way he reacted to different situations, he was still fit to stand trial.

In his judgment, magistrate Apap Bologna noted that Mr Chircop was fit to plead and as a result ordered his extradition.