As part of the specific services aimed at preventing and repressing illegal horse racing in the locality Mortellethe policemen of the Flying Squad Messina they nipped an unauthorized competition between in the bud horses. The intervention follows that of March, when personnel from the Flying Squad and Flying Squad intervened in Via degli Agrumi, Rione San Filippo, interrupting another illegal race and reporting four individuals who had actively participated in the race.
The intensification of services aimed at guaranteeing constant and widespread control of the territory in the city, strongly desired by the Police Commissioner Annino Gargano, has brought further results: at dawn yesterday, in fact, the policemen of the Flying Squad managed to interrupt the a new clandestine race between two horse-drawn carriages.
When the police arrived, the numerous scooters had already occupied the edges of the road to watch the competition. When the State Police cars arrived, the customers quickly left. The horses, two in total, both driven by jockeys in a carriage, were identified by the officers who immediately stopped one, intercepting the second shortly after. The police also identified the two vans used for transporting animals, one of which was intercepted on a road leading to the nearby beach, hidden among the vegetation.
The two jockeys have been identified
As a result of the immediate police activities, the two jockeys were identified, as well as the owners of the horses, both with specific police records, who were reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Messina for the crime of animal abuse. Administrative fines were imposed on the drivers of the vans because they did not have the required authorization to transport horses, and one of the two was also accused of violating the Highway Code for having used the vehicle for transport on behalf of third parties, with simultaneous administrative seizure of the vehicle.
The horses – found by the officers in a state of fatigue – were immediately visited by staff from theASP – Department of Veterinary Prevention, intervened at the request of police officers, and were found not to have a microchip and therefore subjected to immediate application. The horses were therefore subjected to criminal seizure and entrusted to judicial custody. The same veterinary staff subsequently carried out a sample of blood substances on both animals, aimed at investigating anti-doping and regarding the existence of infectious diseases. It should be noted that further investigations are underway to identify all the subjects involved in various capacities in the illegal competition. The above, for the purposes of exercising the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of the press and in compliance with the rights of the suspects who, in consideration of the current phase of preliminary investigations, are to be presumed innocent until the irrevocable sentence which ascertains their responsibilities and with the clarification that the trial, which will take place in cross-examination with the parties and the defenses before a third and impartial judge, may also conclude with proof of the absence of any form of responsibility on the part of today’s suspects.
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