Two brothers were fined and banned from hunting for a year after they admitted to owning illegally modified shotguns.

Carl Debono, 22, and 19-year-old Neal, of Naxxar, pleaded guilty to being in possession of the weapons on Friday.

They were also charged with trying to hunt wild rabbit without a valid licence.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera fined Carl Debono €600 and banned him from hunting for a year.

His brother Neal was fined €750 and also banned for a year. The weapons were confiscated.

Meanwhile, the hunting federation yesterday “seriously warned” its members that it would not tolerate any illegalities during the open autumn season, which starts today.

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