Off-duty hunter-policeman tries to stop buzzards shooting spree

An off-duty policeman was so disgusted with the attitude of some hunters he saw shooting at honey buzzards from the middle of a road that he informed them he would be reporting them even though he himself was a hunter.

PC Albert Grech, a traffic policeman, was testifying in the case against Jesmar Abela, 20, of Ghaxaq and his uncle Salvu Abela, 39, of Zejtun. They stand charged with hunting from a main road or within 200 metres of an inhabited area and trying to hunt protected species.

Jesmar Abela also stands charged with hunting without a licence, reckless driving and relapsing.

PC Grech said he was driving from Zejtun to Zabbar at about 7.30 p.m. on May 8 and he noticed some cars parked by the side of the road and people looking up at the sky.

"Being a hunter myself I realised they were looking at some birds. I stopped and saw a lot of honey buzzards flying over the area," he said.

He said he suddenly saw Jesmar Abela reversing at high speed for a distance of about 120 metres, then doing a round about turn, stopping the flow of traffic, before driving again in the other direction.

"I followed him as I realised what he was about to do and wanted to stop him from doing something foolish but as I drove behind him I noticed Salvu, on the passenger seat, shooting through the van`s open window.

"The van suddenly came to a halt and both doors were flung open. I saw Salvu bolt out of the van, jump over a low wall into a field and shoot again while Jesmar left the van and started shooting at honey buzzards from the middle of the road.

"I went up to him and told him I was a hunter just like him and did not expect anyone to shoot from the middle of a road. I also told him I was going to report him," PC Grech, who at the time of the incident was in plain clothes, said.

The constable testified that he said the same thing to Salvu.

He said he could notice both had guns which looked brand new and that Salvu`s gun was a Benelli or a Beretta as it appeared to be similar to the gun the policeman himself had. There were many honey buzzards flying overhead but there were no other birds in sight.

Inspector Alex Miruzzi testified how he investigated the case after receiving a report from PC Grech. He said Salvu Abela told him he was with his nephew Jesmar and that he had shot at a pair of turtle doves.

Salvu Abela admitted he had met PC Grech and the inspector brought the constable to confront the accused during the interrogation.

Insp. Miruzzi said that, on his instructions, Salvu had called his nephew over the phone and told him to go to the police headquarters and to take the guns with him. But when inspected, the guns taken to the police did not function properly and could not have been the ones used on the previous day, Insp. Miruzzi said.

He said the make of the guns taken to the police were a Luigi Franchi and a Winchester, adding that Salvu Abela had several Benelli shotguns licensed in his name. Jesmar did not have a licence but had a pending application on which there had been a recommendation for refusal by the Zejtun police.

Insp. Miruzzi said Jesmar repeatedly said he was sorry but did not want to specify what he was sorry for and refused to answer questions.

The case continues.

In the same sitting Charles Muscat, Paul Gatt and Alex Ebejer were each fined Lm70 for being in possession of an electronic bird caller while hunting.

Guido Micallef and Paul Bezzina were each fined Lm50 for illegal hunting and Charles Galea was fined Lm70 for illegal hunting at sea.

Inspector Alex Miruzzi prosecuted.