The magistrate hearing the case against two men accused of cruelty to baby elephants told the court he had been upset by "uncalled for, inappropriate and blatant" attempts to influence him before sentencing the accused.

Magistrate Adriaan Bekker said on Tuesday before sentencing Ricardo Ghiazza, 50, for cruelty to animals that he had received six faxes, some from the United States and the United Kingdom, in which animal welfare organisations and activists urged him to impose the maximum penalty.

Ghiazza's business, African Game Services, of which he is the only director, was fined R15 000 on one charge and R10 000 on a second. Ghiazza was also sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for five years.

Wayne Stockigt, 36, was fined R10 000 (or six months) and given a six-month sentence, suspended for five years.

'I considered it, but both are first offenders'

Bekker said Ghiazza, found guilty of mistreating the Tuli baby elephants, and Stockigt, found guilty of a contravening the Animal Protection Act, had already been punished by society.

"Unlike my 'learned friends' of the faxes who asked for imprisonment, I am not convinced that would be appropriate.

"I considered it, but both are first offenders and, if one looks at this case objectively since 1998, when it started, the accused have been shamed in public and became marked men," Bekker said.

The Act prescribed a maximum sentence of a fine or one year in jail or both.

He believed animal welfare organisations would scrutinise the actions of the accused in future and was sure that would be a deterrent.

'There was an outcry from animal welfare organisations'

He said sentencing was not intended to destroy or humiliate an accused. "There was an outcry from animal welfare organisations but the court is not there to serve public opinion," Bekker said.

"This outrage does not necessarily reflect the feelings of the whole of society but it seems to me that the community at large found these methods of training (the elephants) unacceptable."

• This article was originally published on page 3 of The Mercury on July 30, 2003