FRITZL'S FACE CAUGHT ON CAMERA !

Fritzl was glimpsed before covering his face with a blue ringbinder

The face of Josef Fritzl, the Austrian charged with crimes against children he kept and abused in a cellar, has been caught on camera at his trial.

Mr Fritzl had been covering himself with a folder since the trial began on Monday but let it drop as he was escorted into court on the second day.

His lawyer said Mr Fritzl had been "simply ashamed" to show his face.

Jurors are due to finish viewing videotaped testimony from Mr Fritzl's daughter by the end of the day.

They also saw video evidence from one of her brothers.

The final pleas could be made on Thursday morning and that means we could expect to have a verdict on Thursday afternoon Court spokesman Franz Cutka

Josef Fritzl is said to have been watching the recordings very attentively.

The court also heard expert testimony on infant care on Tuesday.

One of the charges against Mr Fritzl is that he murdered his own newborn baby boy by failing to provide him with proper medical care.

Mr Fritzl has pleaded guilty to incest and "partially" guilty to rape but not guilty to enslavement or murder at the trial in the town of St Poelten.

A verdict is expected as early as Thursday.

"The final pleas could be made on Thursday morning and that means we could expect to have a verdict on Thursday afternoon," said court spokesman Franz Cutka.

Mr Cutka said that the media and public would be allowed back into the court on Wednesday

FRITZL CHARGES AND PLEAS Murder - not guilty plea Enslavement - not guilty plea Deprivation of liberty - guilty plea Rape - partially guilty plea* Incest - guilty plea Coercion - guilty plea *Understood to mean he is contesting the wording of the charges In pictures: Josef Fritzl trial Timeline: Austrian cellar case Profile: Josef Fritzl

They were admitted on Monday at the opening of the trial but are being barred from the courtroom while the daughter and son's testimony is played.

A psychiatric expert is expected to testify on Wednesday and two reports by technical experts regarding the cellar in which the defendant locked his daughter for 24 years will also be read out to the court.

Mr Fritzl, his lawyer and the prosecution all agreed to the reading of the experts' opinion rather than their appearance at the trial, Mr Cutka said.

He said he could give no details of the testimony shown on Tuesday, because of a reporting prohibition designed to protect the identities of the defendant's alleged victims.

"Today's session was dedicated to viewing the videotaped testimony of the defendant's daughter and one of her brothers," the court spokesman told a news conference.

"The defendant was questioned about the issues that came up in the testimonies, and he gave his views."

"The defendant followed [his daughter's] recorded testimony attentively," he added.

Mr Fritzl is alleged in 1984 to have lured his daughter into a cellar with windowless soundproofed chambers beneath their house, to have imprisoned her there and raped her repeatedly over a number of years.

The daughter and three of her seven children fathered by Mr Fritzl were kept captive in the cellar until the case came to light in April last year, when one of the children became seriously ill and was taken to hospital.

Mr Fritzl is accused of murdering one of the newborn twin boys his daughter gave birth to in 1996, having failed to arrange medical care for the ailing infant.

Some legal experts have said it may be hard to prove the murder charge but the charge of enslavement carries a maximum penalty of 20 years, and some of the other charges carry a sentence of up to 15 years.

BBC NEWS REPORT.