Hunters' federation official guilty of trapping-related charges

A senior official of the hunters' federation, Carmel Farrugia, has been fined €349.40 by the Court of Criminal Appeal after he was found guilty of having encouraged or assisted another person to violate a police order to stop trapping birds.

The incident happened on November 26, 2006 at l-Għadira ta' San Rafflu, near Kerċem. The Magistrates Court had originally found Mr Farrugia together with another hunter Paul Grech, not guilty of tying to trap a protected species of bird and disobeying police orders.

Mr Grech alone was found not guilty of relapsing and Mr Farrugia was found not guilty of having assisted another person to violate a police order, due to lack of evidence.

The Appeals Court, presided over by Mr Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano, said that although it believed that Mr Farrugia had not gone to the site to trap birds, he had gone there as an official of the hunters' federation to investigate a complaint by Mr Grech over the actions of the police. The court said that Mr Farrugia's presence for almost two hours at a place where nets had been put up, manifestly against the law, without him doing anything to draw attention to this violation of the law, as well as his attitude towards the police, particularly when he told Mr Grech not to dismantle the nets as ordered by the police, rendered him guilty of having assisted or encouraged Mr Grech to violate regulations.

The Court also found Mr Grech guilty of trying to trap a protected bird and relapsing, overturning the original judgment, and fined him €931.74.