Erin Tanti has been charged with the murder of Lisa Marie Zahra
And while Malta Today is STILL reporting that he suffered serious injuries in a fall and that he was kept in the hospital’s intensive care unit because he was in “a critical condition” (exactly what is their agenda – misplaced theatre-crowd taghna lkoll loyalties?), Times of Malta reports this morning that he walked into court with no problem at all.
And then when I reported on this website that he had been discharged from hospital after three or four days, and that his sole injury was a really slight fracture, the Facebook luvvies pounced and bit, saying that I am “cruel” for “lying”.
But it was a fact.
He’s going to be kept at Mount Carmel psychiatric hospital for now.
He also stands accused of having a sexual relationship with a minor, and various other things.
All in all, a really horrible person. But he didn’t tie roadkill to pieces of wood or shoot a dog, so that’s all right then. It was only a 15-year-old girl.
X’arakuza ta’ pajjiz.
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That is what you get in an ”anything-goes” society unfortunately.
Poor dead child. May she rest in peace and her grieving family, who will never rest in peace on this earth, see justice done – and within reasonable time too, because justice delayed is justice denied.
If the dead girl’s name was not Lisa Marie Zahra, would we be reading something entirely different re arraignment?
[Daphne – Not from me, that’s for sure. I know his type. And because I know his type, I can also tell you that had her name not been Lisa Marie Zahra, and had her father not been in the news, he would not have targetted her.]
You know, it’s a lot simpler. If Erin Tanti behaved as teachers should, Lisa Maria Zahra would be alive and Erin Tanti wouldn’t have been accused if her murder.
Hear, hear. I didn’t expect him to be charged with murder.
I wonder if the fools who commented before still think he is a warm and understanding person who was just helping her! So sorry that the poor girl had to meet him of all people.
“But he didn’t tie roadkill to pieces of wood or shoot a dog, so that’s all right then. It was only a 15-year-old girl.”
This is probably the most messed up part about the whole thing. People in Malta tend to get up in arms for animal cruelty but not so much for the death of an innocent and vulnerable person.
I half expect Malta Today to start an offensive on the legal team appearing as parte civile for the Zahra family.
One Ms A. Pace writes on facebook:
“Feel so saddened by today’s news. Mental illness and depression are real issues. We all have our lows, some just have worse lows than others. Therapy still seems like a such a taboo on this little island of ours but it shouldn’t. I hope today serves as one of reflection and understanding rather than judgement.”
She didn’t say the same when the ‘cat crucifier’ was paraded about like a freak show.
Oh, and just saw the ‘Times of Malta’ article shared on Facebook.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140403/local/new-video-family-statement-as-drama-teacher-is-accused-of-murdering-lisa-maria-zahra.513384
Certain comments beneath are atrocious. For example, in response to one sensible comment:
“Exactly […] so any involvement from her end is not admissible since she is no longer here.
Unless he outright murdered her, she had a choice.
Everyone keeps mentioning how she was only 15. Whoever thinks a 15 year old is innocent these days should get out more…”
Whenever the victim is a woman (even if she is actually a girl) you can rest assured that some really disgusting victim-blaming is bound to happen. Especially in a misogynistic society like Malta’s.
The scariest thing is that it was a woman who wrote that comment.
Agree with you 100% as always Daphne.When a sick person crucified dead animals (although I am against it as well) we wanted to hang him in the village square and God knows what else and this bastard took the life of a 15-year-old, but we find people lauding him on Facebook. Vera x’arukaza ta’ pajjiz.
“X’arakuza ta’ pajjiz.”
Leave the country then.
Murder? Looks like it’ll be another Sandro Chetcuti outcome. The only thing they may successfully prove is defilement (which is a ridiculous charge anyway because these days most teenage girls date guys in their 20s anyway, which is perfectly legal mostly everywhere).
Tanti was Zahra’s teacher. Dating a pupil is a crime, and not just because she’s a minor.
Two thoughts: boot polish and pushback.
So the ‘P’ word no one used is now being used ey?
I was wondering why everyone was so silent about it.
Malta Today reports that one of the charges is possession of indecent material involving minors.
Can a person not in possession of a permanent or temporary teaching warrant claim that he is a teacher? This was, obviously a rhetorical question. I just cannot walk into a hospital, drape on a stethoscope around my neck and claim that I am a medical doctor.
It’s quite worrying how much you can get away with if you know or are connected to people with power and influence.
As an actor, Erin Tanti must be enticed with all the attention he is currently receiving. He might feel it is the equivalent of appearing on an MLP billboard upon the request of his friend Jo.
I guess, we will never find out what deal did Erin Tanti and Joseph Muscat reach at the Office of the Prime Minister.
Someone should really bring up that fact to a bit more often (perhaps after the actual case is over). This is what passes for ‘liberal’ and ‘artistic’ for Jo, people who are deviant and ‘rebellious’ to the point that they actually lack any moral compass.
“The court said that considering that a medical certificate had been issued giving the accused a clean bill of health, the decision on where he should be kept would be taken by the prisons director.” From the report on Times of Malta online edition.
How could the journalists at Malta-cum-Star-Today miss this crucial point? A person who was seriously injured and in a “critical condition” would not be certified with a clean bill of health in a couple of weeks.
Totally agree with you.
There is something very disturbing when people seem to care a little bit too much about a crucified cat and the ‘monster’ behind them but when a real monster is presented to us then people are so quick to jump to his defence.
How is a cat killer a monster but an actual murderer of a HUMAN being called a ‘Miskin’
Baffling really.
I would be very curious to see the reaction of our “literati” who left comments on his wall, starting with some writers, poets, actors and other men who never really grew up. Shame on all of them – they know who they are.
Actually, they are not wrong in saying that you are lying as you are lying (and you know it) in this short blog posting. What Malta Today is reporting is: “Tanti was able to walk inside the courtroom. He had been admitted to Mater Dei’s Intensive Therapy Unit and was said to be in a critical condition”. So that he was said to be in a critical condition is being reported as a reference to an official statement. It has nothing to do with “theatre-crowd loyalties”. How can you be so ridiculous? Sure, the Malta Todau journalist is typing his report saying “How can I make my theatre-going friend look good? I know, I will say that he walked into the courtroom but that it had earlier been reported that he was in a critical condition. There, that will put him in a favourable light despite being accused of murdering and having sex with a minor under his care!” Honestly, the things you come up with are so beyond ridiculous sometimes. Kemm tiflah tghid fil vojt? Just go back, edit the posting minus your paranoia and crazy conspiracy theories and have a nice day!
[Daphne – The job of a newspaper is to report the facts, analysed with a rational mind. When faced with the conflicting evidence that he was discharged from hospital after three days, able to walk, and that he was in “a critical condition”, they should have reported the former and dismissed the latter. The former indisputable facts – he is out of hospital, he can walk – negate any suggestion of ‘critical condition’.]
Lisa Marie either fell, jumped or was pushed off the cliff.
Erin Tanti certainly didn’t do any of those things which is why he only spent three days in hospital for observation and only had a tiny fracture. There is no way he was ‘critically’ injured or he wouldn’t have been discharged after three days and then walked into court unaided.
I would suggest that once he saw what happened to Lisa Marie – whether he was actually part of that or not is for the court to decide – he made his way down the cliff and threw himself onto a rock to cause some slight injuries.
A beautiful young girl is dead and she died in the company of someone who had a duty of care to protect her not take advantage of her.
I hope they lock the bastard up and throw away the key. But knowing Malta that will only happen if the search his house and find something really serious like a few cannabis plants.
I am nobody to cast stones however with all my power would cast a gazillion stones at such an evil , disgraceful and abusive person. I hope he does not plead diminished responsibility due to insanity and end up in Mount Carmel.
That man is living in a little world of his own and sees himself as a character in a story. I would go as far as say that he is not at all afraid of the consequences he is now facing. The more complicated they are, the more entertaining ‘his’ story will become and the more occupied his mind will be.
It’s a bit like playing a video game and thinking you have become the little character shooting monsters, rather than the human being in front of a screen.
I know some people like that, who enjoy making problems worse just to have more knots to untie and sub-plots to get through. But there is no room for these people outside mental institutions as their consequences could devastate lives.
It’s as if this young man has nothing to lose. His life ‘outside’ his sick mind is a boring life that he doesn’t want to inhabit.
Given a choice between being locked up in prison, facing charges which include sex with a minor, assisted suicide and murder, all in the gripping context of Dingli Cliffs at 4 am with the good-looking, under-aged daughter of a top businessman who is in the news, or living the normal life his peers live, i.e. working as a teacher from 9 to 3, going to your mother’s place for tea and biscuits, playing a bit of sudoku, watching some telly, checking Facebook, watching a movie, once a week having a drink or eating a pizza, and going to bed, to wake up to go to school again, he would definitely opt for the first. Anytime. That’s what he wanted.
The most excited person in the law courts during this trial will be the guy in police custody.
Daphne, proves you and a handful of sane people right and discredits those misguided idiots who got stuck in the “don’t judge” mindset. ‘Of course’ you judge and you get judged…and how!
You’re so right! I could wring some necks on Facebook at the moment. Mothers too! X’arukaza ta’ pajjiz.
I am glad that justice is prevailing in this tragic case. As the mother of a teenage daughter myself, my heart goes out to the Zahra family in this difficult time.
I applaud your efforts, Daphne, for trying to raise awareness and start a dialogue about the need for a much more through background check on teachers and the inappropriateness of teacher/student relationships outside the classroom. One of the things that always drove me crazy when I lived in Malta was the tendency to pretend unpleasant things don’t exist, to sweep them under the rug and live in denial.
If any good comes out of this tragedy, it will be the increased scrutiny of not only teachers’ qualifications and their teaching experience but also of their social past and present.
Erin Tanti’s Facebook had a wealth of information about the kind of person he was but everyone chose to ignore it. Lisa Marie’s untimely and tragic death could have been prevented.
Hear, hear,
Denial is worldwide. Teachers messing with pupils here in the go ‘ol USA is also denied at times.
There is NO time that this should be allowed for any reason.
Teachers should have their backgrounds checked out completely before hiring, not afterwords. After an incident is just too late.
I totally agree with your comment – X’arukaza veru!
I also cannot comprehend why on earth would a private school (or any other school really) engage a teacher part-time or full-time when he is seeing a psychiatrist.
Quote
Sciriha asked that his psychiatrist, Dr Antonello Gauci, be appointed as a court medical expert.
In Malta, it’s all about contacts.
Well, that wouldn’t be fair, because people go to psychiatrists for lots of different reasons.
It would actually be discriminatory to take the approach you suggest.
About one in 3 or 4 people suffer depression at some point in their life and get treatment for it. Should they not be employed?
People with bipolar disorder who keep their condition under control and learn to live with it by taking their medication and reviewing this with a psychiatrist?
Who by the way are also known to have a tendency to be extremely creative and have high IQ?
I think what they should do is not employ grown men dressed in nappies while also spraying while foam/cream/whatever on themselves. Probably a good place to start.
Astrid has awoken.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/lifestyle/environment/37613/back_1980s_FAA_planning_rules#.Uz1vJPmSyCk
Well, what was she thinking when wanted ‘change’?
Who or what is telling you that the country is not saddened with this tragic turn of events?
I still cannot fathom what these two cases have in common with this one. Why do you keep mentioning them as if they were some sort of standard against which to gauge people’s indignity.
The guy who crucified that dog and the other one who shot and buried him still alive are sickos and I for once would gladly see them being locked up, away from decent people…Thank God most of us love animals, and that is precisely how it should be…What they did was cruel.
Moreover, you can never compare a case involving animals to one involving an underage lost-teenager.
With regards to Erin’s case I feel that it is still too premature to come to conclusions. I’d rather give the judiciary the time to go over the case and understand what happened before I pass any judgement, and so should you!!!
(Daphne – You illustrate my point perfectly. You are judge and jury on those who in your mind are cruel to animals (even before they come to trial, and even when the court finds them not guilty of animal cruelty) but in the case of Erin Tanti, you feel that “it is still too premature to come to conclusions” because you’d “rather give the judiciary the time to go over the case and understand what happened before (you) pass any judgement”. That’s because Miss Zahra wasn’t a cat, or you would have decided that the man who killed her is a “sicko” and that you “would gladly see him locked up”.)
The cases themselves are not comparable, but, in my opinion, you can compare people’s reactions to them. Your comment is quite telling.
I’m not advocating cruelty to animals, but surely, it’s of greater harm to society in general when a crime is committed against another human!
Your poor reply only manages to confirm that Daphne’s observations are 100% correct.
So ‘Dr.Cosman’ – you refer to it as’Erin’s case’ as you, very carefully, attempt to defend him somewhat, I mean with your very noble ‘give the judiciary time…..’ argument (well yes, obviously). I assume he’s a friend of yours?
Now, as a ‘Dr.’ (ahem), a learned person, are you saying here that people are wrong to, or should maybe be prevented from forming and expressing their, very well considered opinions on such matters?
I don’t need to repeat what Daphne has pointed out about your animal-cruelty VS murder/death-of-a-human-being issues, she has been all too clear about that, and speaks perfect, plain, common sense on the subject.
Why should we “never” compare a case involving animals to one involving an “underage lost-teenager”? Where is your sense of values?
Even to the most debased, blinkered human being a young girl has, at the very least, the same value as a cat or a dog.
Adolf Hitler was an animal lover
The little twerp in Malta prefers the ‘liberal progressive’ credentials of Mussolini
Yes, he also shot his much-beloved dog dead.
Dr Cosman, I am sorry but your comment and silly reasoning only continue to prove that what Daphne is saying here and what she has been saying all along is totally correct.
It also goes to show that, sadly, many Maltese not only lack smartness and common sense but are also extremely ignorant with regards to mental health issues, particularly.
X’arukaza, u kif.
[Daphne – That’s because mental illness is considered the default situation in Malta, and so has been normalised. Half the population appears to be on anti-depressants, and yet they do not consider themselves to be mentally ill. If they are not mentally ill, then why are they on anti-depressants? Anti-depressants are for a mental illness called depression. The Maltese idea of a mentally ill person is somebody dressed as Caesar, declaiming on a roundabout in foreign parts. That’s why people like Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando and Franco Debono are dealt with as people of normal psychology, when it is bloody obvious to anyone realistic that they are not.]
I’ll take Caesar on a roundabout any day.
Daphne, antidepressants are for symptoms of depression. Mental illness is separate from symptoms.
It’s a lot more complicated than you suggest, and doctors give out pills for many things that fall short of full disorder, mainly because there is no real concept of what full disorder is in mental health diagnosis in the first place.
Franco Debono and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando show signs of personality disorder. Totally different kettle of fish from depression.
[Daphne – I never suggested that Franco Debono and Pullicino Orlando are depressed. They have, as you suggest, a personality disorder. In the latter’s case, it goes beyond that, as his mental state is destabilised by his heavy drinking.
Yes, I agree with you that doctors in Malta prescribe pills for depression only on the basis of some symptoms, without investigating whether the person actually is suffering from depression. There was a time when some 80% of the women I knew were on anti-depressants and thinking it quite normal when it should be exceptional, and this really astounded me. Anti-depressants make the symptoms of depression go away, but the fundamental problems which caused the unhappiness (or, more often, sheer boredom) remain. I see that the popular 1960s/1970s practice of drugging women to keep quiet and placid (with their consent) has not gone away.]
Exactly.
Due to lack of education on the subject many people are unaware that a number of personality disorders could be easily treated by therapy. In 2014 they still think that to seek the help of a therapist one needs to be totally mad, then when the problem escalates to a major depression they pay a visit to their GP who in return prescribes anti-depressants, and it stops there.
No wonder the population is getting sadder and more miserable with each day that goes by.
You must have been one of the first who pointed her finger at Erin Tanti.
How right you were, At first I must admit that I thought you were being somewhat rash, but you were completely on the right track.
(Daphne – Mr Loporto, I have had to deal with men like Erin Tanti all my life, including when I was his age and they too, and when I was younger and they too. That is why I recognised his type, his personality problems, his ‘issues’ and his motivation instantly. A big driving factor in his behaviour would have been his wish to control, manipulate and destroy a girl/woman from a background he considered more privileged than his, and who might not have been ordinarily available to him. It is the dangerously chippy man’s tension between the wish to possess and the wish to destroy somebody he feels is too good for him. The message to her and her family is ‘Here, you think you are better than me’ (even if they don’t) ‘but look at the state to which I have reduced her.’ His destructive fixation with me and what I write and the amount of public space I occupy came out of exactly the same place: ‘You think you’re something, but take that.’ These are things no parent can teach their children, unfortunately. It is knowledge that comes from experience. If you try to explain this to a teenager they accuse you of being an old-fashioned snob, because they don’t understand things like spite, envy and the wish to destroy what you can’t have, or at least a part of it or one member of that group.)
What a pity it will be if this monster should only get a few years behind bars. He should be locked up and never, ever come out of prison.
In general I’m not into obscure Danish film and derivative works, so I had to look up Festen (Erin Tanti’s upcoming play) to learn what’s it all about.
I was shocked to learn to what extent life imitated art in this dreadful case: sexual abuse; the suicide of one of the victims; the well-to-do family. Sent a chill down my spine.
More so when I think how odd that in this age of hyper-connectivity no one was able to read the signs before the unthinkable happened. How both parties were able to keep this relationship a secret from everyone else baffles me.
It’s a heavy weight to carry on one’s conscience to have known but not acted. Then again this was not the first case of an under-age girl in a “serious” relationship with an adult.
It’s really not that difficult to fathom, Silvio. Well done for your…emancipation? Of sorts, though?
Daphne, I agree that this creep is really weird and deserves the slammer (after due process). However, with our even more weird justice system, this guy will walk.
He is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Some of the crimes that he had been charged with are clearly alternative to each other.
He has been remanded in prison, albeit at the Forensic Unit in Attard. He did not plead insanity.
(Daphne – He is not on remand in prison. He is on remand at the Mount Carmel Psychiatric Hospital. The hospital’s forensic unit is NOT prison. It is the forensic unit of a psychiatric hospital. And please don’t play with words. I believe it has already been proven beyond reasonable doubt that he was at the cliffs with his pupil at night. All else follows from there and there would have been serious issues even if she had not died. He is an adult. She was 15. Don’t fall victim to the Maltese idea that 15-year-old girls are women simply because, in this culture, they are considered to be such and were even married at that age up until the 1970s.)
I thought that he is being sent to the Correctional Facility at Corradino
Oh no they’re not clearly alternative to each other.
That’s what a newspaper suggested.
Imnalla tkun int ‘Turu!
He’s probably being held at Mount Carmel for his own safety, to protect him from other prisoners, his victim being a minor.
The forensic section of Mount Carmel is considered as an extension or part of prison. The inmates there are under arrest by court order and are treated in a different manner from the other patients at Mount Carmel.
[Daphne – This is so exhausting. The forensic unit at the psychiatric hospital is for legal and administrative purposes considered to be part of the prisons. It is, however, physically and effectively and in terms of treatment part of the psychiatric hospital and that is precisely why it is located in the psychiatric hospital and not in the prisons. If there were no need for the forensic unit to be part of a psychiatric hospital, it would have been at Corradino. The Forensic Unit is not a prison for the criminally insane, as they have in larger countries, but a secure treatment ward for mentally ill prisoners. The fact that the system is abused to hold people like Noel Arrigo does not change the definition.]
“Don’t fall victim to the Maltese idea that 15-year-old girls are women simply because, in this culture, they are considered to be such and were even married at that age up until the 1970s.)”
I can’t understand this mentality: the Maltese accept that Maltese girls aged 15 can have a relationship with a 23 year old man because a 15 year old is considered ‘mature’ by Maltese standards and a 23 year old is considered to be ‘dumb’ compared to the 15 year old girl.
However, when they hear about some Hindu man getting engaged to a 15 year old girl – the Hindu wouldn’t have ‘touched’ physically the girl, let alone sexually – they are ‘disgusted’.
Both scenarios are different, both are wrong but one is a culture whereas the other one is ‘abuse’.
At times, I think the local situation is worse than all that hits the international scene.
I respectfully beg to differ. The Forensic Unit at Mount Carmel Hospital is an extension of the Corradino Corrective Facility. Non-criminals are not kept at that ward.
I was very angry when I read that he is being kept there as it’s easier there (I’ve visited that ward various times). His place is at CCF. He’s not mentally ill, he’s completely sane and knows exactly what he’s doing.
I hope he gets a really long sentence. What scum.
You are completely mistaken. The Forensic Unit is a part of the correctional facilities and falls under the competence of the Director of Prisons. It is physically adjacent to Mount Carmel Hospital but does not form part of it.
[Daphne – The fact remains, however, that it is most definitely not a prison, nor is it part of the prison as you wish to imply. Of course it forms part of the psychiatric hospital. That is exactly why it is there. It is a part of the psychiatric hospital that is allocated for use by the prisons, but it is part of the psychiatric hospital. A prison is a prison. A psychiatric hospital is a psychiatric hospital. The Forensic Unit is not a prison for the criminal insane. It is a ward where prisoners receive psychiatric treatment. The fact that the system is abused to have privileged prisoners from white-collar backgrounds held at the Forensic Unit does not make it a prison. It makes it a psychiatric ward for prisoners that is abused through corruption.]
In this country, we have constitutional guarantees which have to be observed in all instances even if the prima facie evidence is manifest. The fact that the accused was at the cliff with his pupil at night does not prove anything.
[Daphne – Actually, it does. It proves that he was with her at the cliff at 4am: a teacher and a pupil. That is in itself a crime. If I drive off with somebody’s 15-year-old son or daughter for whatever purpose, without the parent’s consent, I can fully expect to be arrested. This is the bit you are overlooking, because you have been conditioned by all that initial talk which put the two on an equal footing and put them in a relationship. The fact that he had a relationship with her does not make the crime, but aggravates the already existing crime of sequestering a minor. You are an adult, I assume, and I suspect roughly my age. Now imagine taking the minor son or daughter of one of your friends and driving off with him/her at night while the parents called the police. All the law sees is that an adult has driven off with a minor against the parent’s wishes. You refuse to see that there are multiple crimes here, that this thing is many-faceted, and that it all starts off with the initial crimes, proven beyond doubt already because there is sufficient evidence, that this man had a sexual relationship with a minor, that the minor was his pupil, and that he kept her away from home against the wishes of her parent and guardian. Whether he killed her or she jumped or he encouraged her to jump or he drugged her may be moot points, but the rest are not.]
What if there was a third party with them? How do you know that there was no one else with this couple at the time of the tragedy. What if he tried to save her but did not manage to do so? At the end of the day, nine men and women will decide whether Erin Tanti is guilty as charged or not.
[Daphne – Come off it. I mean, really, come off it. I find Maltese society so very shocking, really shocking. A man who bikes around Mosta picking up roadkill and tying it to crosses of wood is publicly lynched as a murderer and cat killer, with people calling for him to be tied to a cross and killed himself, and then in a situation like this, where another man has sex with a 15-year-old, keeps her away from home and she winds up dead at the foot of a cliff after he has been recorded (by the pharmacist, somebody with a professional warrant) as buying a large quantity of painkillers, has otherwise intelligent people like you rushing to give him the benefit of the doubt and desperately clutching at straws to find reasons why he didn’t do it. And do you know why? Because even if you are not aware of it, like so many other Maltese you need to maintain the myth that there is no evil in Malta except for the occasional weirdo with cats, that psychos live in bad foreign places, and that Maltese people are good and wholesome. The reality is that Malta is like everywhere else on earth: there are good people, and there are some very bad, sick people, and there have been some horrible crimes here that are the result of that.]
This man is entitled to a free trial and it is dangerous for public opinion to be moulded by influential persons like you in such a manner that the men and women of the jury will be prejudged against him. This is how miscarriages of justice take place. Thank God we do not have capital punishment though undoubtedly some would be harking for it in cases like this.
[Daphne – I find your statement offensive and deeply inaccurate. I was the only person spelling out the facts. It was the newspapers (and initially, also the police) who conditioned – in the case of the newspapers, which are infested with ‘friends of Erin’, deliberately so – public opinion.
We had the initial missing persons report which should have been released as ‘teacher and pupil missing’ and was instead presented as two missing young people, with a photograph taken when Tanti was around 17, and then we had the police ruling out foul play, and after that we had all those false reports (for that is what they were, false reports) about how Tanti was in a critical condition in the ITU, when the fact was that he was there because he was under police watch, he had only the merest fracture, he was released after three or four days and he walked unaided into the Court of Justice.
There were also massive attempts at portraying Miss Zahra as somehow defective – a massive barrage of reports – when it should have been clear to all that it is in fact Erin Tanti who is psychologically unsound as can he seen from his behaviour (he is not a teenager).
And it now emerges that he has over the last year or so sought psychiatric treatment. THAT is conditioning. You might be impervious to it because law, and not the media, is your field. But the media is my field and I can see false pictures as they are created and as they emerge. It’s like a language: if you understand it, it’s as clear as day.
Yes, there was a deliberate attempt to portray the girl as unsound, the man as her saviour, the two as being in a legitimate relationship, and the matter of the cliff as a suicide pact. When it became obvious that he didn’t jump (because you don’t jump 40m and come out intact), the story changed: he tried to save her. And that is exactly what you are repeating. However, as a relatively sensible grown-up and a parent, I can tell you this: if that man had the girl’s welfare at heart, he would not have been with her at the top of Dingli Cliffs at 4am with a bottle of whisky and several packets of painkillers. This is the point you (deliberately and self-protectively) refuse to acknowledge.]
I fail to understand the rationale of your leitmotif about public opinion failing to be shocked by cases like this as against the public outrage when there is a case of cruelty to animals. Society is shocked by all acts of violence (except for those committed by hunters unfortunately) and punishes them accordingly. Who said that whoever was shocked by the burial of a live dog condones the death of this poor girl?
[Daphne – Perhaps you don’t live and breathe the regular media and social media. If you did, you wouldn’t have failed to notice a complete difference in the scale and tone of the discussion. People were hysterical about the dogs and cats. They were like a lynch mob in Georgia around 1950, out to hang blacks in their Klan outfits. But with this case? Nothing: ‘let’s give him the benefit of the doubt’. Well, why not – after all, it’s only a girl who’s dead, not a stray cat.]
Actually, after going through the news report once again, I have to correct myself as the court left it in the hands of the Director of Prisons to decide whether Tanti is held at Corradino or at the Forensic Unit at Attard.
In other instances, the court has recommended that an accused is held at the Forensic Unit but this was not done in this case.
The sad thing is that, given the limited gene pool in Malta, ‘nine men and women’ with ‘Arturo Mercieca’s’ attitude will probably be deciding on Erin Tanti’s fate, and he will walk scot-free.
I agree with Grezz that the jury system has its defects and we should consider if it should be scrapped or changed. Daphne should insane criminals be kept in prison? Should we have a separate forensic hospital? Or should we have a mental health facility or section in prison?
[Daphne – If had prisoners who were criminally insane, then what we would require is a prison for the criminally insane. But we don’t have prisoners who are criminally insane. What we have is a ‘forensic unit’ at the psychiatric hospital which, because we never have any criminally insane prisoners, is used instead to hold privileged prisoners like Noel Arrigo, Joshue Gauci and one Andrew Sullivan.
This is clearly abusive, because that is not a prison but a treatment ward for prisoners who need psychiatric treatment. There will always be prisoners who need psychiatric treatment, just as there will always be prisoners who need other forms of medical treatment. The general hospital does not have a forensic unit, and the psychiatric hospital does not need one either.
Prisoners at the general hospital are on the main wards under 24-hour police guard. Prisoners at the psychiatric hospital should be able to use the normal secure wards that exist for patients who, while not being prisoners, still need to be locked up because they are a danger to themselves and others. The Forensic Unit should be scrapped because it offers nothing but scope for corruption and abuse while serving no real or viable purpose. So what if we were to have a criminally insane prisoner one time, you ask? Well, given that people like this are generally locked up for life (not 25 years), the obvious solution is incarceration in a secure cell at the psychiatric hospital. In Malta, there is no ‘life sentence’, as you know, so he’ll have to be kept in a psychiatric hospital under a different form of court order.]
Mr Justice, I enjoyed reading your “Le Mie Vicende”. RIP.
The last comment really hit the nail on its head. Malta is exposed for the thoroughly misogynistic society it really is, when people are all up in arms when there are incidents involving cats and dogs, whilst there’s usually nary a peep when it involves a crime / violence against women.
Agreed – I cannot understand what has gone wrong. Like crime and violence against humans is to be swept under the carpet, for fear of rocking the boat.
I have been thinking about this comment since I read it yesterday because it is so true.
And frightening, that we all live in the same community that so easily manifests this dangerous streak: protect the criminal wrong-doer and shrug upon the victim.
The mentality exposed is one normally kept relatively safe beneath the thin veneer of respectability, joviality, and media spin and yet when the dagger jams in position, so many are ready to proclaim the villain as the hero.
Is the mentality so because one is already so used to covering things up (at home, within the family, between sectors of society) that the codes for right and wrong have switched?
It’s been known to happen: Some cultures shake their heads to say “yes” and nod to say “no.” An example of this is Bulgaria where to avoid religious persecution they outwardly negated or affirmed the opposite faith to the one actually held.
The code switch remains to this day, only people have forgotten how it arose historically.
It wasn’t simply a 15 yr old girl. She was a member of a well known and well off family and this seems to be governing some people’s take on the story. As with the Xuerebs two years ago, some people actually seem pleased at what’s happened. I know this is not quite the point you re making here but some of the comments I’ve heard about the poor girl and her family are just sick.
That’s true. Then again, most are shocked and saddened by the tragic incident, and want to see justice truly served, and quickly, too.
Jeff, I don’t believe anybody can be pleased with what has happened with this sad story.
You are right to say and compare this case to the Xuerebs, as they are high profile families. What I believe is unfair is that these families should not take over the press and make statements.
If this girl was a nobody there would be no statements. Nobody besides her family’s very close friends know what went on behind closed doors.
(Daphne – I do not agree with you at all in comparing the two situations. They are COMPLETELY different. And in the case of the Zahras, thank God they are able to make statements to the press, which they do – contrary to popular belief – not because they are ‘powerful’, as the press is keen for comments from anyone in such a situation, but because they are eloquent and used to speaking to the press. And it’s a good thing they do because the amount of rubbish being said on social media is horrendous.)
Making a statement is NOT taking over the press. It is making a statement to the press. Period.
Indeed Daphne, x’gharukaza ta’ pajjiz! Just now, I overheard what two women were saying in the shop I was in – the conversation regarding the man’s arraignment was:
‘Vera ta’ li ghamel hazin hu, imma hi gennitu’.
Oh god, I can’t take this anymore.
The girl was 15, when are people going to comprehend that:
A MAN WHO’S OVER 18 CAN NOT AND SHOULD NOT MIX WITH UNDERAGED GIRLS
A TEACHER DOES NOT SOCIALISE WITH HIS STUDENTS
A TEACHER DOES NOT MAKE HIS PUPIL MISSING FOR TWO DAYS
A TEACHER DOES NOT TAKE THE GIRL, HIS PUPIL UP TO DINGLI CLIFFS AT 4 AM.
IT IS AGAINST THE LAW.
Period!
Sorry for the caps Daphne, but perhaps this is how they’ll understand.
“‘Vera ta’ li ghamel hazin hu, imma hi gennitu’.”
If the latter part of that statement was ever heeded by all married persons then almost every spouse (of either sex) and children from all marriages would meet with a foul end.
Luckily, most sane and mature people in any relationship, no matter how normal or unsavoury it is, do not follow the Erin Tanti route.
There was something more sinister at work here.
Did you notice the photo of Erin in today’s Malta Independent on line?
The bugger didn’t even bother to cover his face.
He must be proud to have done what he did.
[Daphne – Fame at last.]
Thank you, Daphne, you are one of the very few people in Malta with common sense! I love reading your articles as you speak the truth. Grazzi!
Am glad this has come to name and shame and I take my hat off to you on this! What is beyond this apart from the suffering of her immediate family is the impact of all this on her school friends who are about to undertake the first milestone in their life.
[Daphne – That’s hardly a priority is it. I find it incredible that you would compare suffering at the death of one’s 15-year-old daughter to the emotional state of those about to take their O-levels. They can always take them again if they fail, but Lisa Marie Zahra never got to take them at all.]
A young girl died tragically and yet many defend her aggressor. Is there no end to people’s insensitivity and lack of empathy?
Hundreds yelled bloody murder when two priests were convicted and defrocked for being pedophiles. What’s so different? I haven’t heard of a similar onslaught to defend Lisa Maria against Tanti.
Vera arukaza ta’ nies.
This case and the cases involving animal cruelty are completely different. Why compare them ?
I was horrified by the animal cruelty cases and I hope the perpetrators of such crimes are punished harshly.
Having said that, nobody in their right mind would be unable to see that this case is much more serious and much more tragic.
I really really hope justice is served and Mr. Tanti gets what he deserves.
His lawyers insistence that’s he’s kept at Mount Carmel, as opposed to in prison, makes me think they’re gonna plead insanity.
The Zahra family’s request for him to be seen by another physchiatrist hints that something in this respect is going on too.
Do you know whether insanity can still be pleaded even after pleading not guilty?
If and only if Tanti is actually found guilty of the alleged crimes for which he was taken to court today, then he should never leave prison until God calls him to eternal life.
A full investigation should take place about the monitoring system of school staff members in all schools (including and now particularly at St Michael Foundation). Have schools by now re-checked their staff background? Has the Ministry of Education initiated such an essential check, without taking anything for granted?
This man is a Humbert Humbert. Why else would he possess indecent photos of a 15-year-old girl?
It’s not up to me to judge his punishment but I do hope he and the likes of him are not around for a long time. What surprises me is how an independent school that charges fees for education can employ teachers without a warrant? Is this legal? Are parents aware of this?
Daphne, gharukaza bl-gh. Skuzani m’ghandix il-“fonts” tal-malti.
Thankfully, Times of Malta have blocked comments beneath their report on their online edition. But the ignorant comments (full of “lanzit” against the Zahras, as you explained with regards to “chippy” types, above) have instead migrated to The Times Facebook page under links to the relevant articles, and they are deeply shocking.
As for the Zahra family themselves, and especially Winston Zahra addressing the press outside court today, I have only got admiration for the dignified and composed way they have handled this tragic situation in the face of all the ignorance, hatred, jealousy and speculation surrounding the matter.
My heart goes out to them at this very sad time.
I feel sorry for both the alleged cat crucifier who stands accused of those ‘crimes’, and Erin Tanti. The cat crucifier is mentally sick, whoever he is – and I am not necessarily referring to the accused person, because he may not be guilty after all. And apart from being mentally sick, that person bears a huge grudge and is a very sad person. Whoever went through all that trouble has big problems.
And Erin Tanti…I don’t know the guy but in my opinion – if it is true that he drove her up to Dingli, gave her medication and alcohol and encouraged her to jump, then I believe that it is not pure evil that is at work, because it appears he (at the least) liked her. There must be seriously wrong reasoning involved, a detachment from reality, but not evil.
[Daphne – Oh, he liked her, did he? No, he didn’t like her. He liked what she stood for: somebody more privileged, as he saw it, than he. And like most people with serious chips about those who they think more privileged than they, he was torn between the urge to possess and the urge to destroy, which sometimes boils down to the wish to possess simply so as to destroy. I understand this mentality only too well, because I have had to deal with it.]
I think there are very few evil people in this world, and that what we perceive to be evil is the result of mental illness, detachment from reality, hurt feelings, anger, and other emotions. When someone is in that state, it is easy for them to follow some train of thought and run with it.
What stirs anger in me (but that is my opinion) is not the gravity of the crime, but the intention behind it.
I am less inclined to pardon someone who wants to hide new Maltese citizens by hiding their names than someone who is mentally ill and shoots my entire family.
I don’t think we should making any comparisons to this tragedy.
A 15 year girl was found dead whilst in the company of her 23 year old school teacher.
The only comparisons that should be made at this stage is that some people have not said enough or nothing at all compared to others.
I surely hope that Erin Tanti gets what he deserves. This guy seems like a total pervert. Poor Lisa Marie was very unfortunate to have crossed his path.
Teenage children are very vulnerable, naive and many times lack self esteem.
While there may not be any direct conflict of interest, doesn’t the fact that the President of Council at the University of Malta is acting as defence counsel for someone who has abused so egregiously a position of trust within an education institution show a remarkable lack of sensitivity and propriety?
For once I agree with you on this one.
What is really sickening is the attempt at portraying this sick psycho as some kind of a victim.
What worries me is that some fanatical teachers and parents are actually trying to find reasons to excuse this disgusting pervert.
The Zahra family have my full sympathy. God knows what they are going through.
Both my daughters knew Lisa Marie. As a mother I do not feel that the Zahra statement was fair. They are painting a picture that every 15 year old is vulnerable/ susceptible to such a tragedy because of exams, hormones etc.
Of course being a teen is not easy but if Lisa Marie had more problems then the average teenager it will be better for the Zahra family to say nothing.
Let us not forget that kids too are following the media of their friend ‘s case and we do not want to put things in their heads. Of course one lesson to be learnt is to choose their friends well and to be careful who to trust.
Every school pupil is vulnerable to reckless, self-centred, irresponsible, exploitative and predatory teachers. If a pupil has more problem than most, that makes her more vulnerable, not the others any less.
The gist of the Zahra’s statement is that a 15-year old girl is dead and her 23-year old teacher is facing trial for her murder and sexual abuse, besides other horrific behaviour.
As a morher of daughters, particularly daughters who knew the victim, you should be more than worried for their safety. You appear yo believe they are immune. They aren’t. They’re just lucky they weren’t victims too.
I think that Ms Zammit’s stating that her daughters knew the victim, without showing any compassion towards her or her family, is just her trying to imply tat they knew her, but …
Sick indeed. Well said, La Redoute.
He should be imprisoned for a long, long time.
Merilweez’s desperate attempt at getting herself a bit of a pedigree (because she doesn’t like ceremonies): http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140404/local/new-president-has-link-to-russian-royal-family.513529
talk about clutching at straws!
First directive : Call me “Czarina “.
As I told you in another comment I am a journalist and well, when I was reading your articles about this case I thought you were over-reacting but I mean like a colleague I have to say, well done, you were completely right and the only person brave enough to point him out and show who he really was :)
Times of Malta, too, insists on reporting that Erin Tanti was “in a critical condition” (03.04.14 online report stating that Tanti was being prosecuted for murder, amongst other charges). Some one in a critical condition is not discharged from hospital three days later, and he does not walk into court unaided. What is wrong with proper reporting in this country?
Just heard Tanti being described as Lisa Marie Zahra’s “ħabib” on the radio this morning. Something is seriously wrong with reporting here.
It seems rather common in Malta for people to perpetuate lies by persistently using their rights to free speech to state that black is white in purposeful ignorance of the facts.
In Britain, it would have been reported as a predator grooming his pupil. Malta has a long way to go till we get there, despite the atrocious crimes which pepper our headlines regularly.
The directorate’s approval ensured the “eligibility of the individual for the specific role. This would include the necessity for the individual to meet the minimum qualifications required for the post, an adequate police conduct and clearance issued by the Attorney General to the school in compliance with the Protection of Minors Act” TOM
The directorate’s approval certainly does not ensure eligibility! What hogwash is that? So the school can ignore how the teacher dresses, talks and how he/she conducts him/herself, the boundaries in interactions with students etc. One would think that is what an interview, short listing, references and background checking are for.
Is this a scenario where employers can afford to be coy or is the only imperative here covering the employer’s a**?
Today Times of Malta reports: “Mr Tanti, who survived the Dingli Cliffs tragedy that claimed the life of 15 year old….”
This, after he has been charged with voluntary homicide.
That newspaper needs to wake up – there was no tragedy which he needed surviving. He caused the tragedy.
It’s tantamount to claiming that someone shooting a gun and killing people in the process, but not himself, survived a tragedy.
Guess the US have had their reservations about the IIP.
Also new on the IIP:
Professional Indemnity cover in the minimum sum of €1,000,000 must be held either in their sole name and/or the
name of their employer and/or corporate entity. Written confirmation must be provided from the insurer which
endorses/confirms that business undertaken under the MIIP is specifically covered.
I wonder how many Maltese agents have 1 Million EUR in their bank accounts to be used as a guarantee
It’s insurance cover.
One aspect that really worries me in this very sad episode is that there have been any number of recent murder cases in Malta, but I cannot recollect one where there has been such a public attempt to defend the person accused of the crime.
Why is this?
Cognitive dissonance – the truth is too horrible to take in.
No. I think it’s because the Zahras are the object of envy by many, with the resultant lanzit. So obviously to those people the Zahras MUST be wrong, even if they are right.
Remember the infamous case Daphne Caruana Galizia/Consuelo (Scerri) Herrera, where many rushed to the magistrate’s defence just to side against Daphne?
That is cognitive dissonance too. The counterpart to being “poor and happy” is ” being comfortable but miserable.
Both are incorrect.
Because unfortunately the media and social media have construed the character of this horrific predator into a jilted Romeo fighting – but alas he is weak! – for his Juliet.
To many people this has become a modern-day Shakespearean tragedy.
In part I think the fact that the story first came to light as a ‘missing persons’ issue and was framed wrongly as if the two people were on an equal footing in their ‘relationship’ (a fact Mrs Caruana Galizia rightfully reminds us of from time to time) set the way the more susceptible persons viewed developments from then onwards.
Mix this with things like the cognitive dissonance identified by La Redoute, and you’ve got a toxic mix leading to such ignorance.
It is shocking and shameful that the lynch mob is out in full force (at least on Times of Malta and MaltaRightNow’s Facebook pages) against the victim and the family she left behind, when Erin Tanti/Erin Stuart Palmier, a grown man and a teacher, should NOT have been alone at 4am at Dingli Cliffs with one of his pupils, and should have respected the boundaries that should exist between teachers and their pupils, between grown-ups and minors.
He is not the victim in this case, but is merely ‘suffering’ (for wont of a better word) the consequences of his own abhorrent actions.