Mosta hunter, 23, charged with shooting protected eagle

A young man has appeared in court this afternoon, accused of hunting a protected species of eagle.

Justin Chetcuti, 23, from Mosta appeared in the dock before magistrate Monica Vella, accused of hunting the booted eagle, a protected species.

Inspector Pierguido Saliba told the court that yesterday at around 9:15am, an eagle tumbled out of the sky in an area that was being observed by officers from Administrative Law Enforcement, together with two BirdLife Malta units. The accused was arrested after he walked up to try and collect the shot bird. Speaking to the MaltaToday outside the courtroom, officials involved in the man's arrest marvelled at the foolhardy act, saying the accused "had been crazy to try and hunt at that time and in that area."

A hunting shotgun and a birdcaller were found in the accused's car. The man had denied hunting but unfortunately for Chetcuti, he had also been captured on video, unloading the shotgun and throwing cartridges into the bushes. 

One of the cartridges recovered was found to contain shot that was heavier – and therefore with a longer range – than permitted by law.

The accused did not answer police questions, the inspector said, but nobody else was in the area. "Not from the three observation posts and not from the video [did we see anybody else]. Nobody except the accused could have shot at the eagles."

The man's defence lawyers, Matthew Bondin and Maroushka Debono entered a plea of not guilty to the charges, saying their client had been arraigned “by deduction.” The zone was frequented by hunters, they argued and requested bail, saying that police and BirdLife Malta could not be influenced by the accused.

Inspector Saliba objected to bail, pointing out that BirdLife Malta was made up of volunteers not public officials and therefore lacked the protection enjoyed by the latter. "We arrived at the identity of the accused by what they saw, not only what was caught on tape," he added.

Worryingly, the inspector told the court that during his interrogation, the man had demonstrated “considerable animosity” towards members of BirdLife Malta.

The defence contested this assertion, saying that the accsued "didn't even know who the BirdLife Malta members were" and “had he known, it would be a different set of circumstances.”

Inspector Saliba said that the accused had approached the BirdLife Malta volunteers and had seen their faces and car numberplates, but the man's lawyers argued that the fact that Chetcuti had seen them didn't mean that he knew who they were.

Bondin argued for bail, saying that the man came from a stable family background, his father was a plasterer and he had a girlfirend. He didn't come from a criminal background, argued the defence. But Inspector Saliba highlighted the fact that the man had already been caught on film trying to dispose of evidence and even when confronted with this, he had continued to deny it. 

The court opted to grant the man bail, saying the withholding of bail was only warranted in exceptional cases. "Sir, today the court is giving you another chance. You are not going to prison, but there are certain conditions you must abide by."

He was ordered to deposit his passport in court and prohibited from approaching anyone involved in the case. He was ordered to remain indoors between 10:00pm and 7:00am.

Bail was granted against a deposit of €2,000 and a personal guarantee of €10,000. Chetcuti was warned of the consequences of breaching these conditions.