Man cleared of illegal bird trapping after missing police evidence transcription
While court documents showed that the officer testified and exhibited evidence under oath, the missing transcript meant that that evidence had no context.
A man has been cleared by a court of placing illegal decoys and using bird callers during the closed season after an appeal court ruled that the evidence was not strong enough to prove the offence.
Carmel Xerri had been fined €2,000 and had his licence suspended for three years after being found guilty of trapping protected birds during the closed season, as well as the illegal use of decoys and bird callers, in Fomm ir-Riħ, limits of Mġarr, in September 2022.
He appealed the conviction on several grounds, arguing that the first court could not have found him guilty based on the evidence presented.
Police officer Karl Cauchi, who testified and presented evidence against him, did not have his testimony transcribed and included in the case records, he said.
In reviewing the case, Judge Neville Camilleri upheld the appeal, noting that the officer’s evidence could not be properly assessed without a transcript. While the court documents showed that the officer testified and exhibited evidence under oath, the missing transcript meant that that evidence had no context.
The court also ruled that it could not rely solely on the testimony of CABS wildlife crime officer Fiona Burrow, who presented photos allegedly showing Xerri placing decoys and bird callers at the site. The photos showed a person wearing different outfits and were said to have been taken on different days. However, the court found that her in-court identification of Xerri, made three years later, was not sufficient to lead to a conviction.
Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi was defence counsel.