BirdLife Malta has said that “much awaited sentence” on a case of illegal hunting has been reached today, having taken since 2017 to reach a verdict.

A hunter filmed hunting illegally by BirdLife Malta’s Spring Watch teams way back in April 2017, has today been sentenced with a €3,000 fine and a 4-year suspension of his hunting licence, the NGO said.

BirdLife explained that the incident happened at the limits of Xghajra, specifically on San Anard Tower, which it described as “a fortification notorious for being an illegal hunting hotspot occupied by hunters who regularly break the law.”

The hunter was charged for hunting during the closed season, during the moratorium period placed on Turtle Dove during spring of 2017.

The NGO said that between various postponed sessions, Covid-19 court suspensions and testimonies involving the Spring Watch volunteers, the verdict comes five years after.

BirdLife Malta pointed out that “the culprit is currently banned from hunting, as a result of other illegal hunting cases he has amassed over the years.”

Photo BLM: Image from the incident

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