Luqa poacher, 25, pleads guilty to shooting eagle
Court seizes vehicle and weapons of young hunter who pleaded guilty to killing Short-Toed eagle on Wednesday.
25 October 2013, 12:00am
Chris Mangion
Chris Mangion
1 min read
Allan Farrugia, 25 of Luqa, was fined €4,600 and had his vehicles and two shotguns seized after pleading guilty to killing a protected eagle and hunting illegally.
Prosecuting Inspector Ramon Mercieca accused the man of shooting down a Short Toed Eagle, which is listed as a protected species. The man was caught hunting at Is-Salib tal-Gholja, in Siggiewi, on 23 October at around 6:00pm.
During the investigation the police also found 75 stuffed birds all of which are protected species. The man admitted to having caught and stuffed the birds himself over the past eight years. He was also charged with unlicensed taxidermy and being in possession of protected species.
Magistrate Doreen Clarke ordered the seizure of the man's Toyota Hi-Lux as an accessory of the offence. The Magistrate stated that vehicles used in illegal hunting will be seized by the authorities. The court also ordered the seizure of two shotguns and fined the man €4,600 which can be paid in monthly payments. Magistrate Clarke stated the stuffed birds are to be handed over to the National History Museum in Mdina.
Chris Mangion is MaltaToday’s photojournalist, joining the newspaper in 2013.
In 1995...
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@ madoffi
agree 100%
This hefty fine is a start in the right direction, however I think a bigger fine would have sent a stronger message
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The Magistrate gave a still sentence but I am sure that when the hue and cry subsides, lawyers will appeal the sentence and he gets his van, his shotguns and a reduction of the fine. Such is the state in Malta. No the solution is a National Referendum and the Maltese People can, once and for all, stop this unlawful, disgraceful, disgusting, massacre of migratory birds. This latest slaughter is the last straw.
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"Magistrate Clarke stated the stuffed birds are to be handed over to the National History Museum in Mdina."
This makes a lot of sense.....much better than ordering just confiscation and then who knows what happens...
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I don't know whether this is the maximum sentence /fine allowed by law. "Hunters" should be taught a lesson - if needs be imprisonment. I've met quite a few so called hunters who brag that they will shoot at anything that flies.
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I don't know whether this is the maximum sentence /fine allowed by law. "Hunters" should be taught a lesson - if needs be imprisonment. I've met quite a few so called hunters who brag that they will shoot at anything that flies.
Joseph Grech •
The man admitted to having caught and stuffed the birds himself over the past eight years.
So he started shooting at age 17. Was that legal? - never mind the species!
Is there not a requirement that a bona fida hunter has to be a member of a recognized hunting association? Was he a member of any hunting association? Will that association expel him? Will any association accept him back after the three year suspension of his hunting licence is over. If hunting associations want to keep a good name they should refuse to grant membership to convicted poachers for ever, effectively grounding the perpetrators for life.
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i wonder why are the politicians annoyed and pissed off by these actions, can someone answer me because i have the impressions, that politicians do anything for the votes,
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when i read this, I laugh and cannot stop, E4,600 is a very cheap price to pay , as it looks this person is making business out of these birds, if the eagles are protected they will fetch more than euros 4,600, to be fair,E4,600 on each bird, what a funny place is Malta, thanks to you judges to make so much funny
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Well done Madame Magistrate. Perhaps the next pathetic excuse for a man will think twice before blowing these creatures out of the sky.
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Well done Mag. Clarke. We have labouriously taken the first steps on the right path.
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All his life he had been fooling around killing birds as he pleased ,and ingaurage others to do the same thing killing protected birds as they please ,and get away with just 4,600 euros, UNEXCEPTABLE .
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Since one has to be a member of a hunting organisation to hold a license, how about reporting which organisation he was a member of? Who knows, maybe a pattern will start emerging.
