Two hunters fined, lose licence

Ms. Zarb Darmanin, like other apologists for "hunting", often succumbs to the tendency of those who cannot present a good case to support their position by attempting to redirect the issue away from the topic at hand – e.g. she writes “… then refrain from commenting on more serious illegalities effecting society: the raping of the young! drug victims! lawyers and priests trying to strike a deal so that certain rapists are not brought to justice! and various more serious illegalities where HUMANS are involved!!!” Please give us a break Ms. Zarb Darmanin and stay on topic.

The sentences imposed by the courts on these criminal “hunters” make a mockery of the judicial system in Malta. If the authorities seriously want to stamp out illegal hunting, they should impose significant sentences – thousands of Euros, permanent suspensions of licences, and permanent confiscation of any weapons owned by the convicted. These are real deterrents.

I just cannot comprehend certain comments!! Some comment without being well-versed on the topic, or conveniently opt to forget other illegalities – all they care about is birds, birds and birds. Reading Kyle Burden’s sentence by Telford Magistrates Court (as already suggested by Mr. Philip Camilleri below) will render their comments superfluous. However, I will go a step further and ask these contributors as to why they are instigated to write about hunting illegalities and then refrain from commenting on more serious illegalities effecting society: the raping of the young! drug victims! lawyers and priests trying to strike a deal so that certain rapists are not brought to justice! and various more serious illegalities where HUMANS are involved!!!

Before anyone starts going out of context and accuse me of defending illegal hunting, I assure them that I welcome such Court decision where law-breakers have been brought to justice.

And by the way, Ms. Sylvia Zammit, law-abiding hunters are not extinct!!!!!

And then everyone is asking for self-regulation from the hunting community!!! What for?...everyone is expecting the law-abiding hunter to report any illegalities and when in court a ridiculous sentence is dished out. Why should I go through the hassle of reporting a hunter breaking the law risking god knows what while I am just a few meters away from these cowboys in total darkness every morning? Will I be offered protection if I report someone and feel threatened? Guess not!

No wonder there are many repeat offenders! And yes I am a hunter!

i am a hunter and with all respect to every one you don't know what we feel you can't say because we have the vibe of hunting running in our blood but i agree that illegal hunting must stop cause a few people hunting illegally are causing trouble for most hunters who are law-abiding!!! About this case yes i agree with the fines and everything !! WHY TAKE THE LICENCE FOR LIFE ? WHY ? CAUSE WE ARE HUNTERS? YES I AGREE THAT HE MADE A MISTAKE BUT BUT HE WAS FINED, his gun was confiscated AND his LICENCE suspended FOR SOME MONTHS. THAT IS ENOUGH !!!!! BECAUSE EVERY ONE MAKES MISTAKES I AM SURE THAT HE NOW LEARNED his lesson AND will not repeat his mistake.
HUNTING FOR EVER

The audacity shown by this hunter shows how far many hunters are able to go, without any fear for the law. The sentence given is further proof of this. Instead of suspending his licence for life, with such proof against him, he was given a 1 year suspension. He is not allowed to go again this season but can start again his indiscriminate killing spree from next season.

what happened to 14000 EUR fine and 2 years prison sentence.
Mark Mifsud Bonnici and FKNK officials, your first chance to finally get rid of 2 of your enemies, and give a much awaited sign of goodwill.
you owe it to the law abiding hunters who pay their fees,
or maybe you're busy thinking up an excuse not to condemn one of the gang ???

I am totally against hunting and bird slaughter and the punishment meted out to these two cowboys is more than justified.

What I cannot understand is that separately from the above, early this month a person was fined only Eur50 for injuring a police woman during the course of her duty.

Are we protecting our birds more than our forces???

The sentence is just one big joke things never change in Malta

DONT GET SO "SHOCKED" LAST WEEK A GAMEKEEPER IN THE UK WAS FINED 200STERLING FOR KILLING 102 BUZZARDS (HUNDRED AND TWO) +OTHER ANIMALS

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-199217

The witnesses alleged the tally had included protected species, with entries relating to 102 buzzards, 40 ravens and 37 badgers.He was also ordered to perform 150 hours of community service and pay £200 costs.

GAMEKEEPER IN RSPB LAND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hunting on a Sunday afternoon (Illegal)

Shooting from the middle of the road ( Illegal)

Shooting at a magnificent Black Kite ( Illegal)

What a farce.

I hope now that the association he is enrolled in will suspend him for life. Come on Guys show that you are really against illegal hunting.

What a laughable and disgusting situation. MTA spends millions to try and get tourism to Malta and the very few poachers caught, who damage Malta's reputation, pay peanuts!!

"The law IS an ass" said Mr Bumble, and he was so right!

@Anthony Formosa,
He was warned that the bird was a protected species, I believe before he shot it , he shot at it from the middle of the road on a sunday afternoon at Ta Qali in Novemebr when a lot of families are out in the country and Ta Qali is a favourite spot for families with young children.
Yes I believe the prosecutor should appeal from the jugdment, simply because the Hunter shot the bird in spite of being warned and breaking at least the following laws,
1) Hunting on a Sundy afternoon
2) Shooting from a road
3) Carrying a loaded shotgun in public.
4) Defying authorised persons warning.
5) Shooting and killing a protected species.
Euro 500 is a joke, gun confiscation was a foregone conclusion. licence for a year ha ha ha bet you he was out hunting an hour later wit another gun .

I wonder whether the court appointed an expert in order to estimate the cost of a protected bird such as a Black Kite. Calculating such a cost is a bit tricky as it would have to take into account the ecological role of the bird in question, its aesthetic value, its recreational value in terms of the hours of enjoyment it would have given throughout its existence. In my opinion €500 seems to be a bit of an underestimation. My proposal may sound far fetched but nowadays even biodiversity has its monetary value and many countries are actually calculating the input they would get from their biodiversity...of course once they opt to safeguard it.

Anthony Formosa: Oh, miskin, was he not aware of what the law says? (Not an excuse, in any case.)
Pull the other one please.

why not a minimum ten year ban or better still,a ban for life 'pour encourager les autres'

Are you by any chance saying miskin? Ghax hadulu is-senter u licenzja? Because the poor boy made a mistake? That was no mistake, it was premeditated and in my opinion the penalty should have been far stiffer. Especially now when the topic is a hot one. The magistrate had the opportunity to set an example with these two blokes for the good of the protected birds and ultimately the bona fide hunters.

Mr dear Mr Anthony Formosa, you seem to be bereft of ANY understanding what a 'mistake' is all about.

From the report of this incident, it appears to one and all - but obviously not to your good self - that the persons in question knew exactly what they were doing, didn't care about what the authorities were warning them about, and just shot the birds in cold blood!

And you have the audacity of calling that, a 'mistake'. Oh, well!

I'm confident that you wish the worst for this hunter, but all of you are mentioning just the fine, but not the confiscation of the gun and worst of all is the one year suspnesion of the licence. Besides he's a first time offender, we're all subjected to a mistake, and he's going to pay for it.

Licence suspended? Get rid of all the hunting licences once and for all.

It's more than clear that they will keep shooting at birds.

The shooting down of a protected bird by the hunter is an insult to any law abiding hunter - the fine and and the term of the licence suspension is an insult to the Maltese population.

Simon Sullivan,

Why do you mention the law abiding hunters? this is not a hunting problem it is a lack of enforcement problem that relates to all areas of society.

Should the legal hunters do anything about this? Well maybe you should do something about the silly sentence that was handed out to a 61 year old man for raping a 10 year old girl huh?

Enlighten us as to why you mention someone not involved in such a case?

Authorities - If you want to make an example of these hunters so others not to break the law and continue killing protected species just like nothing occurred. Make the fine $5000 the least! Otherwise the problem would be never solved....

Gamekeeper sentenced for killing birds of prey and badgers
Kyle Burden,19 was sentenced at Telford Magistrates Court today(19 sept 08)after admitting to killing buzzards,and badgers,and setting illegal traps.
The witnesses alleged the tally had included protected species,with entries relating to 102 buzzards,40 ravens,and 37 badgers.
He was ordered to perform 150 hours community service and pay 200 pound sterl.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-199217

Same Buzzards as they are in Malta!!! 200 Pound sterling only.

it must be a joke. 500 Euros!!!

I agree with Paul Barrett! It seems the authorities lack the backbone to suspend hunting licences for good. This way, the hunters who could not care less about laws would end up unable to indulge in their so called 'sport'. This would leave only the law abiding hunters - who seem to be in the minority (that is, if they are not extinct!)

When the court orders a fine it is constitutionally bound to do so according to the provisions of the law. In this case noone has probably ever been arraigned on hunting from the road, and therefore the magistrate had to choose a penalty which was closest to this case, e.g. the noise pollution penalty.

The law is always adapting because society trends are always changing...and in Malta we always manage to invent a new farce especially becuase our society is made up of cowboys.

I call this just a ridiculous sentence and an insult to the society. Disgrace.
Fines & suspended licence.....are you seeing this as a contribution towards a better environment?? this is what the culprit learned at the end of the day??
What about spending 2 years Community Services with Bird life volunteers or some other green NGOs. Common sense

These are the kind of people we need to get rid off.Thank God they've been caught and if i had my way they will never hunt again.They are cowboys not hunters.

So they have had their licenses suspended by law. (for 1 year and 6 months) Now will the FKNK be true to their word and throw these out of their club? Or is this not a serious offence in their eyes? They should have their licenses revoked permanently.
Also the 500 euro fine is pitiful. Where are the large fines that the FKNK members claim exist?

No wonder illegal hunting continues by those few who dare go against the law...the law is in no was a deterrent with these kinds of fines and penalties. €500 for shooting a protected bird from the road?! Pathetic!

Presumably if they had a licence, they were members of one of the Associations and have thus brought great discredit to their fellow members and continued bad publicity to their lifestyle.

If the Hunting Associations are really serious about stamping out illegal hunting, they will ban them for life from being in or joining another Association - thus effectively banning them from being able to own a gun or recover their hunting Licence.

Where are the law abiding hunters who so vehemently advocate enforcement against illegal hunting. Do they believe these laughable fines encourage or detract from further abuses?

X'farsa ta' pajjiz.

Where did the accuse think he was? In the middle of a Western movie???? Shooting in the middle of the road! Unbelievable. Sadly, I believe that for serious action to be taken, some innocent bystander has to be wounded or killed.

€500 (Lm214) fine for illegal shooting of a protected bird from a public road? Is this a joke. What if a person was hurt? At least, the hunting license should have been suspended for ever for shooting from a public road, let alone shooting a protected bird. SHAME.

Oh yes, €500 for killing a protected bird from the middle of the road even after being warned, is a real deterrent!