Court ruling against poacher: 137 protected birds seized
On 31 July 2025, the court in Malta announced its verdict in the case against a poacher who had been caught on 20 September 2022 with a vast illegal collection of live protected birds.
Police responded to a report from the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS), which had informed the authorities about illegal activities at a bird trapping site in Għaxaq.
When police inspected the site, they found the defendant, an active clap net, and various aviaries full of live protected birds, including 16 green sandpipers, 16 common sandpipers, 16 wood sandpipers, 13 little ringed plovers, nine little stints, five ringed plovers, and three black-winged stilts.
Officers from the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) were called to the scene and confirmed that most of the birds on site lacked the legally required documentation or rings. In total, 137 live protected birds as well as several stuffed bird trophies were subsequently seized. “This is one of the largest illegal collections of live birds ever seized on the island,” said Fiona Burrows, Wildlife Crime Officer at CABS, who testified as a witness in the proceedings.
In the face of overwhelming evidence, the man pleaded guilty to most charges and was sentenced to a one-year prison term suspended for two years and a fine of 1’000 euros.
This man is without doubt one of the worst poachers in Malta. We are very pleased that the court has treated this case with the seriousness it deserves, said CABS spokesman Axel Hirschfeld in a statement. Regarding the man's prior convictions, he added: Unfortunately, the defendant appears to be one of those who never learn. We hope that one day he will recognise the damage he has done to nature and to himself, and change his life for the better.
The verdict also reflects the fact that the man is a notorious repeat offender who had previously served a prison sentence for the illegal killing of protected mute swans in St. Thomas Bay in January 2002. At the time, the defendant and two of his cousins chased the exhausted birds with a speedboat and killed seven of them. In April 2017 and August 2019, he was also reported by CABS staff for hunting during the closed season and for illegally setting traps for protected wading birds.
