A hunter facing the prospect of one year behind bars after shooting a kestrel that fell straight into a school playground had his effective jail term converted to a suspended sentence upon appeal.

Kirsten Mifsud, 28, had been jailed for one year, fined €5,000 and had his hunting licence permanently revoked after he was declared guilty following the incident which had taken place during a hunting spree in the area of tal-Fata in the limits of Żabbar, back in April 2015.

Another hunter, who had parted company with Mr Mifsud shortly before the incident, had testified that he had heard three shots coming from the direction of the accused while a kestrel flew overhead.

“What have you done?” the witness had asked, upon joining his fellow hunter after spotting the protected bird falling out of sight. “I was blinded,” came the reply.

After hearing a number of witnesses and upon the evidence put forward, the Magistrates’ Court had found the hunter guilty, observing that his actions had brought about the premature closure of the spring hunting season, thus “unjustly depriving” many law-abiding hunters of their pastime.

The injured kestrel had landed straight into the playground of St Edward’s College, shocking the school children who spotted the bloodied bird.

The accused had filed an appeal requesting a revocation of the judgment on grounds of a wrong appreciation of facts. He also argued that the punishment was excessive.

The Court of Criminal Appeal, presided over by Mr Justice Giovanni Grixti, observed that after “a detailed examination of the records” it emerged that the judgment was legally and reasonably valid.

It had been proven that a protected bird had been shot at, that the accused had aimed his rifle at the bird, had fired the weapon and had later told his friend that he had been “blinded,” the court observed.

As for the quantum of punishment, this fell within the parameters envisaged by the law, the court went on.

However, an examination of the accused’s criminal record revealed that he had only one brush with the law, for which he had been conditionally discharged.

Given the consistent practice of granting an accused person a chance to reform, the court observed that in this case the next step would be to increase the dose by one stage, thereby revoking the effective jail term and converting it to a one-year jail term suspended for two years.

The €5,000 fine and permanent ban on the accused’s hunting licence were, however, confirmed. Lawyer Franco Debono was defence counsel.