Wiretapped conversations of Silvio Berlusconi expressing worries over the age of the teenage erotic dancer he is accused of paying for sex have been released for the first time the day before his trial begins, London's Telegraph reports.

Berlusconi, 74, who has refused to turn up for the opening of the trial in Milan on Wednesday, was recorded discussing the age of the young woman, Karima El Mahroug, who goes by the stage name Ruby the Heart Stealer.

Prosecutors claim that he paid her for sexual relations on 13 occasions when she was working as a 17-year-old escort – a year below the legal age of prostitution in Italy – and that he then tried to cover up the relationship through an abuse of office.

If the court in Milan finds him guilty, he could be sent to jail for up to 15 years. If he receives a sentence longer than five years, he would be barred from ever again holding public office.

But legal experts say the under age prostitution charge will be hard to prove because both he and Ruby deny having sex.

Taped conversations between the 43 young starlets involved in the case have been leaked to the press for weeks, but Mr Berlusconi's own apparent conversations had not yet emerged until now.

Read the entire story at telegraph.co.uk