Trigger-happy fools

The story of the shot flamingo was a depressing one, however every cloud has a silver lining, and the good news in this case was the prompt action by onlookers and the police. In what reads like a typical CSI storyline, the police followed the clues all the way to a residence in Burmarrad, where they discovered the remains of several other protected birds that had been shot illegally.

It was also encouraging to note the unanimous condemnation of the incident. It is normal to have BirdLife slam such an episode, but what is truly exceptional and extremely encouraging is the fact that the FKNK has come out publicly to decry the event.

"Whilst the courts have already stepped up punishments meted out in recent cases, and the FKNK also cancelled the membership of the persons in question, the remaining handful of poachers must understand that they have no further shelter anywhere in civilised society.

"These criminal acts have absolutely nothing to do with hunting, and the legal hunting community abhors any such acts and consequent comparison."

This is the kind of message that we want to hear from the FKNK!

Kudos to them for doing the right thing and standing firm against those who break the law and bring all hunters into disrepute. I trust that we will see more collaboration between the FKNK and BirdLife in future, because, contrary to what most people think, these two associations share a number of aims and should help, not hinder, each other.

No means NO!

I guess I was not the only woman who felt a distinct sense of satisfaction to read about Ms Shanti Shresta, who bit off the tip of Crispin Grima's tongue after he assaulted her, grabbed her from the throat and stuck his tongue in her mouth.

I obviously do not mean that I was pleased that the poor woman had been attacked and groped, because it must have been a horrific experience for her, but it is good to read about a woman who can stand up for herself and who gave as good as she got. Mr Grima sure had it coming.

What was not quite as satisfying, however, is the fact that Crispin Grima got off with a slap on the wrist, albeit with a shorter tongue. He was sentenced to a four-month jail term suspended for a year, which essentially means that he walked out of the courtroom a free man.

Now I am sure that there are several conditions attached to this suspended sentence and that one of them will be that any other sexual attack would result in his getting thrown into jail - however it is still sad that such violent attacks are not punished more severely. We have recently had the case of two teenagers who raped a young girl in Mosta and who also walked free. Surely it must be clear by now that something needs to be done to change our archaic laws and come up with punishments that match the seriousness of the crime.

I will tell you this - I would rather have Daniel Holmes roaming the streets than Crispin Grech, and I have absolutely no doubt which one of them I would prefer to encounter alone at night.