Two men who gunned down protected birds were jailed, fined €14,000 and banned from hunting from life in a harsh court judgment that marks a break with similar cases in the past.

Joseph Darmanin, 39, of Qrendi and Renè Bezzina, 27, of Għargħur, were found guilty of shooting protected white storks on May 18 during the closed season.

Mr Bezzina was arrested in Madliena at 6 p.m. and Mr Darmanin was caught in Mqabba two hours later.

They were also charged with relapsing and being in possession of cartridges containing large size lead shot that is illegal.

Additionally, Mr Darmanin was charged with being in possession of a gun that could take more than two cartridges at a time.

Magistrate Anthony Vella jailed Mr Darmanin for two years, fined him €9,000, confiscated his gun and banned him from obtaining a hunting licence for life.

Mr Bezzina was jailed for a year, fined €5,000, had his gun confiscated was also given a lifetime ban from getting a licence.

A spokesman for BirdLife Malta said the very fact that the men had other convictions for illegal hunting showed that previous sentencing was not strict enough.

The prosecution had to be backed up by the court when punishment was meted out, the conservation group said, expressing the hope that, in future, judgments such as these would be a deterrent to stop illegal hunting.

Hunters’ federation secretary Lino Farrugia said he could not comment before reading the judgment and establishing whether the two men were federation members.

The hunters are expected to appeal.