Only one hunter observed where booted eagle was shot, court told

No other hunters had been observed in the area where the man accused of shooting a booted eagle was detained, a court has been told.

Magistrate Anthony Vella heard nine witnesses testify this morning in the compilation of evidence against Justin Chetcuti, who is accused of killing a booted eagle – a protected species – last year.

The witnesses: five police officers and three BirdLife Malta volunteers testified to shots having been fired in the tal-Virtu area on 2 November.

The BirdLife Malta volunteers had filmed the booted eagle tumbling from the sky and coming to rest in a turnip field. They showed police the footage they had captured, showing a man wearing only shorts and carrying a shotgun.

A volunteer testified to seeing the bird come down around 300m from where she had been standing. “Once we saw the eagle was down, I took a telescope to see if any people were walking around. I saw one man walking around...he was shirtless, wearing a bullet belt. Once he noticed we were there, he seemed very nervous...he looked directly at the telescope and walked away. The ALE arrived and they started talking to another man wearing a green shirt who was not the person we saw before. They talked for some time...after half an hour or so, the ALE came to us with the first person whom I had seen through the telescope, in the car.”

A birdcaller was found in a van belonging to the accused.

The police officers testified that they had been on patrol at the time and had heard two sets of shots.

One officer said that he had seen the eagle come down in a farm. “The owner opened for us. We found it in the field amongst the turnips.”

The BirdLife Malta volunteer who had shot the incriminating footage, also took the stand today. “We were there because during the night booted and short-toed eagles were roosting in the area,” he said. “The eagles were circling the valley. We heard a shot as the eagle passed... Five minutes later an ALE unit passed through the area and spoke to us. While we were speaking with the police, we heard shots in the same area...it was around 9am...I was shooting the video when the eagle came down. Around 15 minutes after the eagle came down a hunter, who wasn't wearing a t-shirt, appeared with shotgun in his hands. He looked nervous.”

The hunter was around 100 metres away from the volunteers and had spotted them, said the witness. “This person started walking up towards the tal-Virtu chapel. He saw the telescope and the camera so he turned around and started to speak on the phone to someone.”

“Later, a person in a green t-shirt arrived, speaking with several officers walking around the property. This was not the person that we saw before with a shotgun in the valley...While the ALE unit was talking with the man in the green t-shirt we saw the hunter further in the valley, wearing a white t-shirt, walking in the valley. After around 20 minutes, the ALE unit came to us with the suspect in the car.”

“The only person we saw with a gun in the area is the person in the video. We didn't see any other hunter.”

The case continues in February.

Inspector Pierguido Saliba is prosecuting. Lawyers Matthew Bondin and Maroushka Debono are defence counsel.