HONG KONG: The Kowloon City Magistracy was told yesterday that the computer technician accused of stealing the sexually explicit photos of Canto pop icon Edison Chen boasted that his colleagues discovered the images by unlocking encrypted files uploaded from the entertainer's computer.

Fanny Choi and Janet Leung, who previously worked at a household store, said defendant Dicky Sze Ho-chun showed them the celebrity pictures when he repaired their computers at the store near the end of 2006.

The two women told the court Sze boasted his company, Elite Multimedia Limited, obtained the nude and explicit photos while staff carried out service on Chen's computer.

"They (the technicians) found several files locked. When they unlocked the files, they saw photos of Gillian (Chung)," Leung told the court.

Choi asked Sze to show her the pictures. Leung came to have a look too. Leung testified that she watched Sze access a Web page, enter a password and the photos appeared on the computer screen.

However, Choi said she was so embarrassed by the photos that she requested that the showing be stopped. In an earlier deposition, Choi said she found the pictures disgusting.

The witness glanced through over 100 images portraying entertainers Chen, Chung, Cecilia Cheung and somebody she couldn't name, while Leung only saw a few with Chung alone wearing black clothing.

After that court was told Sze recorded the photos on a compact disc marked "X", then handed the disc to Leung. Leung testified she handed the disc to her colleague Mak Man-kei. Mak returned the disc about two days later, she said.

In earlier testimony, court was told Sze gave the two witnesses a disc containing 1,300 lewd images. Prosecutor Hayson Tse said that Sze copied the photographs from a hard drive at Elite Multimedia to a computer server connected to the Internet.

Sze pleaded not guilty to three counts of obtaining access to a computer with a view to dishonest gain.

Tsang Oi-ling, an accountant at Elite Multimedia, said all staff could access the computer server with a password.

Meanwhile, Wong Hing-cheung who became Edison Chen's driver in 1990 testified that he left his employer's computer at Elite Multimedia without being present for about three hours on one occasion.

"When he (Chen) saw me at the office, he asked me to get the laptop back immediately," Wong recalled.

Chen had stipulated that Wong always was to remain at the shop or nearby when the machines were being serviced.

Wong admitted he didn't supervise the service work. Shop technicians took the computers out of his sight. Wong said he had no knowledge of computers.

The trial continues today. Computer technician Tse Lap-kiu, who repaired Chen's computers, is expected to come to the stand.

(HK Edition 04/08/2009 page1)