Hunter cleared of shooting black stork after prosecutors drop charges

A hunter was cleared on Thursday of having shot a protected black stork after the prosecution withdrew charges.

Ryan Bonnici, 34 of Gzira, had been accused of shooting the bird at Zebbiegh two years ago.

Police had found a loaded modified firearm hidden behind the back seat of his car in Gharghur.

Bonnici later pleaded not guilty to nine charges stemming from the incident. Six of those charges were later withdrawn by the prosecution, with Bonnici only being accused of possession of an unlicensed Beretta shotgun, unauthorised modifications to the weapon, failing to properly store the weapon and not abiding by the licence conditions.

When delivering judgment, Magistrate Elaine Mercieca also cleared him of the remaining charges, observing that crucial evidence concerning the licence had not been produced by the prosecution. Failing that, the court could not know whether or not the accused had any licences in terms of law and if so, in respect of which weapons.

As for failing to properly store the shotgun, the court observed that possession of that weapon could possibly have been illegal, depending on the relative licence, evidence of which was not produced.

However the weapon had...