The Court of Criminal Appeal has annulled a two-year prison sentence imposed on the Japanese citizen, Okamura Satoshi, who admitted to killing cats in Sliema. The sentence was annulled not on the merits of the punishment but because of a procedural defect in the original judgement.
In a decision delivered on Tuesday, the appeals court ruled that the Magistrates’ Court failed to comply with mandatory requirements under the Criminal Code when delivering its sentence against Okamura Satoshi. As a result, the case has been sent back to the Magistrates’ Court for a fresh judgement and re-sentencing according to law.
Satoshi had been sentenced in October to two years’ imprisonment and banned from owning animals for 40 years after pleading guilty to killing animals, causing unnecessary suffering, and slightly injuring two police officers during his arrest. The case attracted significant public attention after CCTV footage showed the accused killing a cat in a residential Sliema street.
On appeal, Satoshi argued that the punishment was excessive and disproportionate, and that the lower court had failed to adequately consider the need for professional psychological intervention. However, before addressing these substantive arguments, the Court of Criminal Appeal focused on a preliminary legal issue.
The court noted that the Criminal Code clearly requires a judgement to specify the facts for which an accused is found guilty, impose punishment, and explicitly cite the legal provision creating the offence. In this case, while the Magistrates’ Court convicted Satoshi on all charges, it failed to quote the specific article of law creating the offence of causing slight bodily harm to the two police officers.
Instead, the judgement cited general provisions describing bodily harm as either grievous or slight, and another article defining slight bodily harm, without expressly referencing the article that establishes the offence itself. Referring to established jurisprudence, the appeals court held that this omission amounted to a fatal defect, requiring the annulment of the entire judgement.
The ruling means that a new judgement must now be delivered in full compliance with the law, reopening the sentencing phase despite the accused’s guilty plea. Justice Neville Camilleri presided over the Court of Criminal Appeal, with lawyers Marion Camilleri and Adreana Zammit appearing for Satoshi.
The decision is likely to provoke mixed reactions. While the annulment does not overturn the findings of guilt, it highlights how procedural precision can decisively affect even the most clear-cut and emotive cases. The case has previously sparked widespread outrage and debate on animal cruelty laws in Malta.
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