A hunter who could not help himself when he saw a captive-bred spoonbill flying just outside a bird park lost his appeal to overturn the suspended jail term he had received, although he was spared a €500 fine.

The case dates back to 24 November, 2009.

The hunter, Raymond Agius, was outside the Salina bird park when he shot at the captive-bred African spoonbill, a sister species to the Eurasian spoonbill occasionally seen – and at times illegally shot – in Malta. The bird had been born in the park itself, and was properly registered and ringed.

The park’s owner Kevin Mallia testified that they were training the spoonbill – which was often displayed to schoolchildren visiting the park – and that while it was flying just outside the park, the accused fired a number of shots at it and missed.

He sought to retrieve the bird as it landed, but it was too scared to let him come close. While he called a friend to bring him a net, it was too late: Mr Agius brought it down with another shot.

The two men were involved in a confrontation as they approached the bird, and Mr Agius ultimately left without the bird. Mr Mallia gave chase, but the hunter threatened him with consequences if the police were brought in.

The police were called nevertheless, and Mr Agius was ultimately convicted of voluntarily damaging other people’s property and of killing a domesticated animal: he was acquitted of killing a protected bird and of possessing a number of stuffed protected birds, even though a number had been discovered when his home was searched – due to the lack of legal assistance he had received during questioning.

Mr Agius was sentenced to a 13-month jail term suspended for two years, as well as a €500 fine. He was also ordered to pay Mr Mallia €2,375 in compensation for the bird.

But Mr Agius appealed the sentence, stating that as a result of the lack of legal assistance, he should have been acquitted of all charges, and not just that of possessing stuffed protected birds.

He also argued that the suspended sentence was in itself excessive, in light of his relatively clean criminal record, and that the Court of Magistrates unduly tied the suspended sentence to the compensation that he had to pay.

However, Judge Lawrence Quintano pointed out that Mr Agius did not incriminate himself through the statement he gave to the police – at least not as far as the two charges he was convicted of were concerned. In the original sentence, he observed, the court ruled that Mr Agius had realised that the bird was a domesticated one, only to decide to shoot it nevertheless.

Mr Justice Quintano also rejected the argument that the suspended sentence was intrinsically linked to the compensation owed to Mr Mallia, stating that the magistrate had only sought to emphasise that civil proceedings should not have to be opened for the bird’s owner to be compensated.

But the judge did revoke the €500 fine, as the two charges Mr Agius was convicted of referred to the same crime, and not separate ones.