Three men who yesterday were found guilty, by admission, of engaging in cockfighting on Sunday were today fined €2,000 each.
Johan Saliba, 37 from Birkirkara, Adrian Pace, 22 from Qormi and Matthew Micallef, 21 from Birkirkara were among 25 people arrested during a police raid in Qormi on Sunday. More arraignments are expected.
The three men admitted to various charges relating to animal cruelty and suffering.
The police said they had acted on a tip-off about organized cockfights. Officers spoke to several men and identified the accused as having been involved in the cockfights.
Lawyer Edward Gatt, appearing for Mr Micallef, said his client had only filmed the fights on his mobile phone but was not actually involved in the fights.
Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia, appearing for Mr Saliba, stressed that their client is a first-time offender and was a spectator.
Dr Ludwig Caruana said his client, Mr Pace, was also a spectator.
The the men were yesterday granted bail, pending sentencing, against a€10,000 guarantee. They were present for sentencing this morning. The court ordered the accused to pay the fine in €100 instalments.
Inspectors Roderick Agius and Colin Sheldon prosecuted.
from The Malta Independent http://ift.tt/2mzEXoo
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