CONVICTED (2010) | huntsman Alistair Thomas Robinson, born April 1962, of 1 Essendy House, Bampton Grange, Penrith CA10 2QR – flushed a fox from her den and beat her to death with a stick.

Robinson denied using dogs to hunt a fox but was convicted after a trial.

League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) members Ed Shephard and Paul Tillsey showed the court film footage of Robinson’s actions as an Ullswater Foxhounds ‘drag’ hunt passed Hartsop on October 26, 2009. The film showed the defendant take a fox from the ground where his two terriers had been running in tunnels.

The hunt was intended to be a legal ‘drag’, where dogs follow a scent planted by members. Robinson was filmed putting his black terrier into a hole in the area where a fox had been spotted.

Oliver King, prosecuting, said Robinson was seen by LACS members digging with a stick in the area where the fox had run underground, after the hunt moved on.

Robinson later admitted, in interview, he had killed the animal and buried her carcass in a dry stone wall, where LACS members later retrieved it. He claimed he did not intend to use dogs to kill the animal.

A post-mortem examination on the vixen was carried out by Stephen Harris at Bristol University. The examination revealed she had been attacked for ‘a prolonged period’ by dogs and received extensive injuries. The court heard that there were bite wounds to the fox’s face and she had a partially crushed skull.

Stephen Welford, defending, said Robinson had only sent his terrier underground to help track and bring out a four-year-old dog that had accidentally escaped its lead and run in.

When interviewed by Cumbria police, after his arrest, Robinson said: “The fox was in a bit of a state, so I gave it a couple of knocks to finish it off. It wouldn’t have survived.”

Sentencing | fined £250, ordered to pay £900 costs and a £15 surcharge.

Wildlife Guardian
Westmorland Gazette