Fine imposed on relapsing poacher halved on appeal

The Court of Appeal halved the fine imposed on a relapsing hunter, 27-year old Branco Fenech, ruling that the first court had been too severe in its punishment.

In June last year, the man was convicted of trapping protected birds by using a mist net during the closed season. He was also found guilty of keeping protected birds and using them as bait for trapping.

The incident happened on 23 July 2012, at around 12:45pm at Ta’ Qali. He had already been convicted of the same offence in April 2010.

The first court fined Fenech €3,000, seized the illegal items and disqualified him from keeping a hunter’s license for three years. However the convicted appealed judgment, arguing the punishment was too severe.

In his appeal, Fenech said that not only had he admitted his guilt, but he had immediately removed the illegal trapping equipment. A Police inspector from the Administrative Law Enforcement Unit (ALE) confirmed that after the incident, he had called onsite and the illegal mist nets were gone.

Mr Justice Michael Mallia upheld the man’s appeal. The Court of Appeal upheld the guilty judgment, confirmed the seizure of the illegal trapping equipment, and the three year disqualification of a hunter’s license but reduced the fine imposed on Fenech to €1,500.