A hunter was jailed for one year and fined €5,000 after the court found him guilty of shooting a protected bird that fell into a school playground.

A photo of him on social media.

Kirsten Mifsud, 24, known as il-Benghazi, also had his hunting licence permanently revoked and shotgun confiscated.

Magistrate Francesco Depasquale said Mr Mifsud’s actions led to the early closure of the spring hunting season, “unjustly depriving” many law-abiding hunters of their passion.

Mr Mifsud’s lawyers Noel Bianchi and Jason Grima said they would appeal the judgment.

He was arraigned yesterday afternoon, 24 hours after shooting a kestrel in an area known as il-Fata, limits of Żabbar. The incident happened at around 12.30pm and the injured kestrel fell straight into the playground of St Edward’s College, scaring children who saw the bloodied bird.

Mr Mifsud replied, ‘I went crazy’

Luke Bianco, 10, a student who witnessed the incident describes his feelings in a letter appearing in today’s edition of Junior News with Times of Malta: “I was scared, panicked and frightened.”

The incident led Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to immediately close the hunting season three days before it was scheduled to end, a move applauded by bird conservationists but derided by hunters.

Hunting federation president Joe Perici Calascione yesterday said the premature closure of the season was collective punishment for hunters.

Mr Perici Calascione said the FKNK wanted to protect honest hunters from the anguish caused by the threat of collective punishment and would seek legal advice on the matter.

He said the hunting federation had cooperated with the authorities to curb abuse and was prepared to intensify cooperation but collective punishment sent the wrong message. It was fellow hunters who testified in court against Mr Mifsud.

Magistrate Depasquale pointed out the kestrel was a protected bird “easily distinguishable” from turtle doves and quails – the two species hunters are allowed to shoot in the spring hunting season.

“There was no doubt he [Mr Mifsud] was very aware of what he was shooting at to the extent that he said, ‘I went crazy [għamejt]’,” Magistrate Depasquale said.

One of the witnesses, Joseph Aquilina known as il-boots, told the court he was with Mr Mifsud when the incident happened.

Mr Mifsud told Mr Aquilina he was going to walk around and took out his shotgun, wrapping the weapon’s cover around his waist so that he could hunt.

Mr Aquilina said he saw a kestrel and heard three shots. He then heard another shot and the bird started falling to the ground.

On hearing the shots, Mr Aquilina ran to see what had happened and saw that these were coming from Mr Mifsud’s direction. When he saw Mr Mifsud, he told him “what did you do?” to which Mr Mifsud replied, “I went crazy [għamejt]”.

The court had harsh words for Mr Mifsud’s actions, which took place next to a school playground. As a result of this shooting, the magistrate said, the kestrel fell as children were playing “with all the trauma this could bring upon them”.

The court also questioned how the law allowed shooting in close proximity to young children when these were at school.

“It is the court’s duty to give a clear message to those who break the law that they will be severely punished, to ensure that the law will be observed and also respected by everyone,” he said.

Mr Mifsud’s defence team pointed to the conflicting testimonies given by Mr Aquilina and another two men who were in the area – Shaun Spiteri and Christopher Bonello.

As a result of this shooting, the kestrel fell as children were playing ‘with all the trauma this could bring upon them’

Mr Spiteri said he was hunting a bit farther away from Mr Mifsud when he saw the kestrel fly in Mr Mifsud’s direction and out of his sight. He then heard three shots, saw the bird fly and heard a fourth shot.

He went to Mr Mifsud who had his shotgun aimed in the air. Mr Bonello, on the other hand, said he heard seven shots in the direction of the bird. The shots were coming from the direction of Mr Spiteri and Mr Mifsud.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Kathleen Grima, who appeared parte civile for the hunting federation, pointed out that Mr Mifsud was not a member of the federation and its members suffered because of his actions. They called on the court to find him guilty.

Magistrate Depasquale said he was convinced beyond all doubt that Mr Mifsud fired in the kestrel’s direction to kill. “It is enough that there is evidence that the shotgun is aimed and fired at the protected bird for the charges to be proven,” he said.

Meanwhile, in a press conference outside the law courts, Birdlife spokesman Mark Sultana said this was a season during which illegalities should not have been perpetrated. “But barely had it started that we did not have the first bird shot illegally,” he said.

While Birdlife’s primary objection to spring hunting was from a conservation point of view, Mr Sultana insisted the season would have always been used as an excuse to shoot at anything.