UPDATED: Fined for possessing, manufacturing explosive material

Wally Vella-Zarb

Mar 25th 2008, 00:06

The 'funny' thing is that the SAME court, when faced with a plea of guilty by a man who failed to declare an excess of €13,570 and $450 over the limit that is allowed to travellers, imposed a fine of ...........€890. That's right: eight hundred and ninety Euro!!!

Would I be considered 'in contempt of court' if I now take the heinous liberty of quoting the well-known saying that, "THE LAW IS AN ASS"?

J. A. Tyrrell

Mar 24th 2008, 23:27

In one story we have two Syrian men accused of not declaring money on leaving the country for exchange control purposes. One pleads guilty and is fined €890.

Then we have someone found guilty of possessing explosive material without the necessary licences and he is fined €209!

It would appear to me that the law has got its priorities wrong here.

JOHN SCERRI

Mar 24th 2008, 19:51

ALL this is of great frustration for the Police Force and the tip-off.
I bet it cost more than 465 Euro in labour cost for the police to search and arrest this individual.
After all it is taxpayers money which is being spent and whoever is brought to justice and found guilty must make up for this with a hefty fine , be given a prison term , or better serve time doing community work for free in a public place where everyone can see .

David Borg Cardona

Mar 24th 2008, 19:48

So it seems that in this country, hunting is the only issue !! The fines we have to bear for illegal hunting are incredible and run uo to a maximum of 14,000 Euros. Whilst those who manufacture illegal fireworks incur pennies worth of fines. And as far as I am concerned fireworks are much more of a hazard than hunting !!

J.C. Azzopardi

Mar 24th 2008, 18:22

Urban or Rural, the law is the law and in like matters, Magistrates should go by the book and castigate law breakers by handing dawn the maximum possibilities provided by the law. These people have no scruples and they do little care whether they peril the life or property of others. The Attorney General should appeal.

Claude D'Amato

Mar 24th 2008, 15:12

"......Magistrate Audrey Demicoli took into consideration that the explosives were kept in a rural area and out of range of any residential areas".

If I may ask, WHAT ABOUT if an innocent family with kids were for a peaceful and relaxing walk in the countryside very close to this "rural area"... and suddenly BOOM!!!...

..... or maybe a hunter was enjoying his hobby (I'm not a hunter) and suddenly things went wrong in this Tar-Randa area??

John Grima

Mar 24th 2008, 14:36

When I read this news item I checked to see if it was April 1st. It comes as no surprise that people are prepared to break the law where fireworks is concerned if the fine they incur is only equilvalent to the cost of a few fireworks.
Whether the fireworks were kept in a rural area or in a residential area should not be of any relevance at all. The fact is that this person had broken the law and had total disregard for the welfare of others who might be in the vicinity of where he was manufacturing these fireworks.