Justice?

I found an article in the Jamaica Observer about a man who claimed that his hunger drove him to steal three live chickens amusing in a depressing sort of way. That is, until I remembered reading about a man who beat his wife to a pulp. Wondering what the connection is?

The chicken thief plead guilty to one charge of simple larceny and got thirty days in jail. The wife-beater plead guilty to two charges, occasioning bodily harm and unlawful wounding, for which he received ten days each - to run concurrently.
The chicken thief stole three live chickens, which were recovered unharmed. The wife-beater punched his wife in the face, dislocated two of her teeth, and punched and kicked her all over her body.
The chicken thief's reason for stealing? Hunger.
The wife-beater's reason? His wife entertained a conversation with their child about cooking stew-peas with pig's tail (he's a Rastafarian). She didn't attempt to buy, cook, prepare, or consume the pig's tail, nor did she even agree to do so. She simply told the child that pig's tail was too expensive.

And that's not even the best part of this story. Both offenders appeared in front of the same judge - who's a woman!!! Yes, RM Judith Pusey heard both cases in the Half Way Tree Resident Magistrate's Court.

Something is inherently wrong with either the law or the judge (probably both) when the theft of three chickens attracts a greater penalty than beating someone to a pulp. Then again, maybe the judge just didn't like stew peas with pig's tail.