Construction magnate Charles Polidano has been fined €20,000 by a court for breaches of animal welfare laws at his Montekristo Estate.
He had been charged, in 2015, of having kept animals in inadequate quarters, causing them to suffer needlessly, as well as of failing to register animals, rearing pigs without permission from the authorities, owning an unlicensed zoo and recidivism.
Polidano had initially pleaded not guilty but filed an admission in 2019.
He was cleared of the recidivism charge after the court found that the imposition of a fine was not deemed a final conviction unless there was evidence that it had been paid or converted to prison time. In this case, there was no evidence of either.
The court also found that the charges related to the pigs were no longer offense since they had been repealed at law.
On the other hand, Polidano was found guilty of the rest of the charges on account of his own admission. He was fined €22,000.
Last year, Polidano was acquitted of criminal charges related to an incident where a young boy was mauled by a tiger at the estate.