Hong Kong - A verdict is to be handed down on April 29 in the trail of a computer technician accused of stealing photos that triggered a sex scandal in Hong Kong, a court announced Tuesday.

Sze Ho-chun, 24, allegedly downloaded explicit images from the laptop computer of singer-actor Edison Chen that showed Chen engaging in sex acts with a number of young starlets.

The 1,300 pictures showed stars including singer Gillian Chung and actress Cecilia Cheung naked with Chen, creating a scandal which tarnished the squeaky clean image of Hong Kong's so-called Canto-pop stars.

The images were shared among millions of internet users in early 2008, forcing the 28-year-old Chen to issue a public apology, flee Hong Kong and announce his temporary retirement from showbiz.

In a two-week trial, during which 16 prosecution witnesses testified, Sze pleaded not guilty to three counts of obtaining access to a computer with dishonest intent.

Evidence from Edison Chen, which was given in a court in Vancouver when he refused to return to Hong Kong for the trial, was outlined at the magistrates court hearing.

Prosecutors said Chen was a regular customer of Sze at the computer shop where he worked and alleged that Sze passed the photographs to another person who uploaded them onto the internet.

Sze, who faces a potential jail term of up to five years, is said to have downloaded the images while repairing Chen's laptop and burnt them onto a CD before they were uploaded.

Magistrate Tong Man said he would hand down his verdict on April 29.

Chen, who is filming in Singapore, received a warning letter containing a bullet telling him to keep out of the public eye after he made his first public appearance since the scandal earlier this year.