A curious inequality to sentencing

THERE seems to be a curious inequality to sentencing these days. Banks and some institutions appear to be above the laws of man.

Politicians caught with their fingers in the till receive lesser sentences than comparatively minor offenders.

When it comes to being light-fingered Belgian expat René Alphonse van der Berghe, now resident in Málaga takes the biscuit.

In fact stole priceless artefacts, precious artworks from museums and galleries to order.

The seven-times married 72-year old fled to Spain in 1975 after being handed down a 300-year sentence. The police are not hot on his heels despite his boasting of his crimes in his autobiography.

It might be uncharitable of me to suppose he might have hidden away a list of those he stole from as an insurance policy.

English hypocrisy

The English are a strange people.

Five magnificent horses at Cheltenham races died as a consequence of that ‘sport.’ It is not uncommon; horses die routinely at UK race meetings.

When the bull loses its life in a Spanish arena there is a sanctimonious braying and calls to boycott everything Spanish.

I suppose the odds on a horse dying are less than that of the bull but the principle is the same.

The charity Animal Aid claims 420 horses die in the UK each year. About 38 per cent die when racing.

The others are destroyed as a result of training injuries or killed because they are no longer commercially viable.

Are those who protest about Spain’s bullfights going to attend race meetings?