One of the more intriguing stories to hit our local news recently was also seriously disturbing. A young chap, entered a farm & stable yard and carried out a lot of cruelty to a lot of chickens – cutting off their wings and leaving them still alive, and then he attacked a tiny pony, sexually assaulting and then stabbing it 25 times and again just leaving it suffering. The animals’ owner narrowly missed catching the juvenile but the nature of the crimes meant DNA was left in useable amounts and he was traced and arrested on that basis. All of this is ghastly enough from a human point of view – what possessed anyone to act like that to helpless animals/birds. The RSPCA, police and others pressed for full prosecution and eventually the case came to court. The sentence handed down at thelocal Crown Court was ludicrously lightweight and didn’t reflect the crime in anty way. The legal system will need a very big shake up if people are going to feel confident that crimes are being punished!