Covid-19 halts Phillip Walter Smeal’s trial on alleged child exploitation material charge

The part-heard trial of an Ipswich dad will no longer go ahead after an integral party was infected with Covid-19.

On the third day of an Ipswich man’s trial, who was accused of possessing child exploitation material, the court proceedings came to an abrupt halt.

The jury was set to hear closing submissions from Phillip Walter Smeal who was running his own defense case, and crown prosecutor Michelle Parfitt, before reaching their verdict on Tuesday, April 26.

Although, Judge Dennis Lynch QC had contracted Covid-19 which forced the trial process to restart with a new jury later in the year.

The court heard when police raided Mr Smeal’s home in 2018, the Queensland Police’s digital forensic analyst found 187 items of child exploitation material, which included 20 videos.

The 57-year-old dad told the court he wrote his first computer program and began coding in high school during 1981, then went on to selling software for Windows Microsoft, before working for Sharp Plywood for 35 years.

Mr Smeal’s case will next be mentioned on May 10, 2022.