Monday, April 29, 2013

Taffe (not a Welshman) fined for 'sheep' insult

You might expect someone named Anthony Taffe to have a sympathetic approach to we Welsh. But it seems not. He has just been fined by Llandudno magistrates for referring to us as "sheep sh*****s". This seems rather impolite, as well as (in my experience) totally inaccurate. He claimed innocence on the charge of racially aggravated disorderly behaviour on the grounds that he was referring to all country people at the time. This seems a weak defence since he admitted that he called a policeman (whom I imagine to be Welsh) at the station where he was taken as a "Welsh Sheep Sh******r". And this was not even the policeman who sat on him when he was first seen shouting drunken obscenities at a holiday park. I'm a proud Welshman but feel untroubled by Mr Taffe's observation. Those of us who have lived in the mountains with our sheep are used to such offensive accusations. Actually, I've been called much worse than this since being elected an MP. And I have referred to Mr Taffe as something worse - though not where in could be heard by others. Anyway, the magistrates didn't accept his story and fined him £150 - which is more than the value of a Welsh ewe of good quality.

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