Three admit to animal cruelty charges after police raid cockfighting den

Accused released on bail to await magistrate’s sentence on Tuesday • They face a fine of between €1,000 and €55,000 and a maximum of three years’ imprisonment

Johann Saliba (left) and Matthew Micallef leaving the law courts after being released on bail
Johann Saliba (left) and Matthew Micallef leaving the law courts after being released on bail

Three men have admitted to charges of animal cruelty after they were arrested yesterday during a police raid on a cockfighting den.

Inspectors Roderick Agius and Colin Sheldon charged construction worker Johann Saliba, 37, Adrian Pace, 22 and 21-year-old Matthew Micallef respectively with a number of offences under the Animal Welfare Act, including causing unnecessary suffering to animals, mistreating of animals in their care and failing to keep animals in their care in suitable conditions.

Offences under the act are punishable with a fine of between €1,000 and €55,000 and a maximum of three years’ imprisonment.

Agius told duty magistrate Gabriella Vella that on Sunday, police had been tipped off that illegal cockfighting was being held at a farmhouse in Handaq, limits of Qormi. After making the necessary investigations, police had raided the farmhouse. The owner of the premises had opened the complex to the authorities, he said.

“There were many people there,” testified the inspector. From the police investigations, it emerged that the three accused men had, in the preceding months, been practising cockfighting. Video footage of the fights were seen by the police on a mobile phone belonging to one of the accused.

Lawyer Edward Gatt, appearing for Micallef, said that while his client was present, he had not organised the fight. His mobile phone had been seized and videos found of the activity “which some call sport and some do not.”

Watching a video is not a crime, submitted the lawyer. Micallef had admitted that he had occasionally taken part in fights and was sorry. “He admitted to this even during questioning. I was surprised to see only three persons in the dock, when the press reported 30 arrested yesterday.”

Micallef was open to assist in police investigations, added the lawyer. He asked for the court to be merciful and requested bail.

Lawyer Franco Debono, appearing together with lawyer Amadeus Cachia for Saliba, argued that their client was a first-time offender. He had told police that he had only gone to watch the fights. Debono asked the court to take into account the early guilty plea and said he believed the punishment meted out should be close to the minimum.

Lawyer Ludwig Caruana, appearing for Pace pointed out that the crime was not aggravated. Bets were not involved and Pace had not organised the fights, he said. Pace had said so in his statement, added the lawyer but added that he had not excluded that the could have been involved in fights in the preceding days.

The prosecution did not object to bail for the trio. The court, announcing that it would be handing down judgment on Tuesday morning, released the men on bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000.