Micallef admits killing cuckoo: fined Eur2,500, gun confiscated and licence suspended

Stefan Micallef, 43, a Maltapost employee from Naxxar, admitted to shooting a cuckoo this morning after being charged and arraigned immediately for the crime.

He was fined 2,500 euros, had his gun and ammunition confiscated, and had his hunting licence suspended for three and a half years.

That means he won’t be hunting in spring or autumn until midway through the autumn season of 2018.

This went very well for him, didn’t it? He wrote on Facebook some days ago that he has never felt as “mentally unwell” as he has done these last few weeks at the prospect of an adverse referendum result which would mean he couldn’t hunt in spring.

He can now spend the next three and a half years learning how to live life without mental problems brought on by being deprived of shooting birds. He really has no choice, because if he doesn’t, by the time the three and a half years are up, he’s going to be tranked to the max or hurling himself off the bridge down the road.

When things get to this stage, it’s not a hobby or a sport but a vice, and the sooner we learn how to call things by their proper name, the better.

Micallef told the court that he shot the bird because he thought it was a turtle dove. Oh, that would be why he tried to hide it from the police then.