A hunter who had been jailed after being found guilty of shooting and killing an eagle in 2016 has been let off with a suspended sentence after an appeals court ruled there was reasonable doubt over whether he had shot the protected bird.

Justin Chetcuti had been jailed for a year, fined €5,000 and had his hunting licence revoked for life after he was convicted of killing a booted eagle – a protected species – in November 2016.

Five police officers and three BirdLife Malta volunteers had testified to hearing shots fired in the Tal-Virtù area in Rabat. The police saw footage the volunteers had captured, showing a man wearing only shorts and carrying a shotgun.

The court heard that the police were patrolling the area when the incident happened and the large bird had landed on the police car.

However, the Appeals Court, presided over by Mr Justice Aaron Bugeja, ruled that there was reasonable doubt over whether Chetcuti had been the one to shoot the bird since there was no footage of the actual shooting.

Circumstantial evidence alone of Chetcuti with a shotgun in his hand did not prove that he was the person who shot the protected bird, the court ruled.

Mr Justice Bugeja revoked the one-year jail term and sentenced Chetcuti to three months in jail suspended for two years. He also halved the fine to €2,500 and reduced the lifetime ban to a two-year suspension of the licence.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb were defence counsel.