Constable acquitted after freak accident

Police constable Kevin Fenech, 24, was acquitted this morning of the involuntary homicide of his uncle, Angelo Seychell in a field near Zejtun in September 2006.

The court found that the killing was an accident which occurred when the aerial of a radio sticking out from Mr Fenech's pocket got caught up in the trigger of the hunting shotgun and a shot was fired.

The prosecution had argued that the gun's safety catch should have been on, but Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera observed that the two had been hunting in a field and one could understand that the safety catch could not be put on after every shot.