Hunter slapped with €5,000 fine and permanent revocation of hunting licence
A 56-year-old man from Mosta had his hunting licence permanently revoked, was fined €5,000 and had a hunting shotgun confiscated after he was found guilty of shooting and killing a schedule 1 protected bird last Thursday.
The incident took place on 13 April, 2017, just one day before the spring hunting season was scheduled to close. The bird was shot down at l-Aħrax, limits of Mellieħa at around 7.30am.
Anthony Galea was charged with attempting to shoot down two protected birds of the same species, the Eurasian stonecurlew, shooting one down and failing to inform the authorities as required by law, trying to keep the protected bird that was shot down and hunting a bird that is not on the approved list.
Magistrate Joe Mifsud, presiding over the case, remarked that the courts have no objection to hunters responsibly enjoying their right to hunt, but will not tolerate criminal actions.
He said that the majority of hunters practise their sport “seriously and responsibly”, but lamented on the few who are not keeping in line with the law, to the detriment of those who are.
Magistrate Mifsud said that the intention was to send out a clear message and that the penalty acts as a strong deterrent.
“This is not a case of the accused being unaware of the consequences of his actions. The court is convinced that there are still others who believe that when breaking the law [hunting laws] there is a chance of not being caught, or should they be caught there is a chance that they would not be found guilty, or in the case of guilt the penalty would not be so bad,” he said.
“Nature belongs to everybody... this case should serve as a warning to all. All in all, it should serve the responsible hunters and help them to collaborate with the police in order to catch more irresponsible hunters, like what happened in this case, where anonymous information led to the police being able to take immediate action.”
Inspector Colin Sheldon prosecuted while Lawyer Alfred Abela represented the accused.
In a statement, BirdLife Malta said it had provided the footage which led to the hunter’s arrest. It said that, by the season’s closure on Friday the toll of known shot protected birds had risen to a total of 15.