In England they have a saying: the law is an ass.

Last week, a magistrate illustrated vividly that the saying can also apply in Malta.

Magistrate Carol Peralta conditionally discharged a man who, with naked premeditation, ran over an Australian for making a gesture implying he was gay, even though he was found guilty!

And the magistrate’s quote that he took into consideration “the mentality of Mellieħa residents” insulted me and my fellow Mellieħa residents by insinuating we have a Stone Age mentality.

Magistrate Peralta should know that had the man felt insulted and exacted immediate ‘revenge’, that may have been a ‘crime of passion’. But to go away and, later, on seeing the Australian, decide to run him over is pure and simple premeditated crime.

The same applies to another case where a Birkirkara man was found guilty of injuring a person who had sworn at him and criticised his dog. The jury concluded the accused acted in a “sudden passion”. Sudden means instantly, not waiting until the evening, arming yourself with a shotgun, going back to the bar and shooting your critic. That was an act of premeditated violence.

Perhaps the much criticised Nationalist MP Franco Debono is right: our judicial system drastically needs to be overhauled.