A police constable was yesterday given a suspended jail term after he was video recorded hunting illegally by members of BirdLife in Gozo last year.

The 22-year-old hunter, Fabio Schembri, was captured on film by conservationists near Ta' Gordan lighthouse on April 18 between 4 and 5.30 p.m., when the hunting season was closed.

The film is split into two parts. The first part shows two men wearing white balaclavas, one holding a gun and every so often firing the weapon. In the second part, the same two men are seen on a motorbike when they were intercepted by police officers. At the time they were not wearing balaclavas.

Magistrate Edwina Grima said the defence counsel had not contested the fact that their client featured in the second part of the film but had denied he was in the first. In fact, the defence tried to discredit the BirdLife members by saying they had an interest in seeing any illegal hunters brought to justice, so any testimony would be laden with prejudice, the magistrate said.

However, she added, such argument did not hold water, given that much of what the witnesses saw was substantiated by the film.

Moreover, the magistrate said she could not believe the accused because he had given different versions of events. First he said he had gone bird watching and then changed his version to say he was taking a walk with the other hunter.

In considering punishment, the magistrate said she could not ignore the fact that the accused was a policeman who had been in the force for two years before this incident. She said he was in duty bound to prevent such type of crime and it was for this reason that he had gone hunting wearing a balaclava.

However, he was a young man and should be given another chance not to make the same mistake out of his passion for hunting.

Taking into consideration the circumstances of the case, the court handed down a one-month jail term suspended for a year. He was not interdicted. The court also suspended his hunting licence for a year.