Category Archives: hunts

Dogs, foxes, hunting with dogs, hunts, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Hanford, North Dorset: Mark Pearson

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CONVICTED (2022) | huntsman Mark Anthony Pearson, born February 1960, of Chisel House, Hanford, Blandford Forum DT11 8HQ – found guilty of illegal hunting after he “encouraged” his out of control dogs to kill a fox.

Image source: Daily Echo

Company director Mark Pearson was observed by activists from Weymouth Animal Rights to shout “carry on” and “hunt on” at his hounds after they chased and attacked the animal during a trail hunt. The joint master of the South Dorset Hunt was then seen to carry the dead fox out of undergrowth where it had been cornered.

Pearson was found guilty of illegally hunting a wild mammal with dogs in violation of the Hunting Act 2004. Magistrates heard Pearson was leading the South Dorset Hunt through countryside in Bere Regis when the incident happened on December 13, 2021.

Another fox had been killed earlier that day by the same pack of dogs but that incident was dismissed as an unfortunate accident by police.

Image source: Weymouth Animal Rights

Two hours later, when the majority of the hunt had left, hunt saboteurs monitoring the event heard the hounds baying. One animal rights campaigner filmed the aftermath of the attack.

Pearson can be seen in footage dressed in the red coat of a master huntsman getting off his horse and walking to the barking hounds by the gorse.

Molly Mifsud, prosecuting, told the courtthat Pearson had failed to stop his hounds from killing the fox while unaware he was being filmed.

She said: “There was a hunt going on and the hounds went to ground.

“Actions of the huntsman prior to that point caused that fox to be killed.

“These actions were all in violation of Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004.

“A person commits an offence if he hunts a wild mammal with a dog.”

Joanne Joss, one of the saboteurs, told the court she thought Pearson was encouraging the hounds.

Asked by the prosecutor what Ms Joss heard Pearson shouting after he got off his horse, she replied: “He got off his horse and joined the hounds in the gorse.

“He seemed to be encouraging them and I could hear him shouting ‘carry on’ and when he emerged from the gorse he kept saying ‘hunt on.'”

Miss Mifsud asked Ms Joss how many times Pearson ‘encouraged’ the hounds.

She said: “He was by the hounds on horseback. He told them to ‘carry on’ and said that four times as if he wanted them to carry on where the fox was.

“He got off the horse and joined them in the gorse, we thought he was leading them on.”

Derek Perry, defending, denied that Pearson had encouraged the hounds. He said his client tried to call the dogs back and was heard shouting at them ‘leave it’.

Mr Perry said: “The reality is that he blew his horn to call the hounds back.

“When the hounds didn’t all obey he got off his horse and came straight down the hill to tell them to leave it.

“The recording was taken from some fields away and in it you can hear Mr Pearson shouting ‘leave it’.

“He does not run away from the scene, he calmly takes the body to be taken away and continues on.

“At no point can Mr Pearson be heard saying ‘hunt on’.”

But in finding him guilty, presiding magistrate Justice Stephen Corben told Pearson that he should have had control over the hounds before they slaughtered the fox.

Mr Corben said: “The prosecution has shown us three video clips and called witnesses who have given evidence that is credible and consistent.

“Mr Pearson told the court that he had decades of experience with hounds.

“He stated that he tried to get the hounds to stop but it seems that they were already hunting in the gorse.

“We believe that Mr Pearson should have had full control of his pack.

“He told us he used a special call to bring them back but it didn’t work.

“We therefore find him guilty of the illegal hunting of a wild mammal.”

Sentencing: fined £6,000, victim surcharge of £190 and costs of £620.

Daily Lock

Update | March 2023

Pearson had his conviction for illegal fox hunting overturned after a judge raised “significant concerns” over the Crown’s case.

In overturning the decision, His Honour Judge Stephen Climie said the Crown has ‘failed to prove’ it was Mr Pearson’s intention for the dogs to kill the animal but did say Pearson ‘could have done more’ to prevent the death.

Dorset Echo

Dogs, hunting with dogs, hunts, Non-Abuse Cases

Houston, Renfrewshire: John Wright

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CONVICTED (2022) | John Bennet Wright, born 25 March 1989, of 17 Viking Crescent, Houston, Johnstone PA6 8LQ – battered a disabled foxhunt protestor.

Wright, who is associated with the Lanarkshire & Renfrewshire (L&R) Hunt, was caught on camera violently pulling Grant Sloan, who uses aids to walk, out of his vehicle and repeatedly kicking him.

The hunt thug lashed out when Mr Sloan was watching L&R hunt in Bridge of Weir in October 2020.

Mr Sloan was able to record the brutal attack on his phone and the footage shows Wright kicking him on the chest.

Prosecutor Amber Feeney told the court: “Around 3.30pm, Mr Sloan was in Bridge of Weir due to a fox hunt taking place and was parked at the side of the road in his vehicle alone.

“A short time later, three males approached, with one of them being the accused.

“One of the unknown males shouted at Mr Sloan to leave and he attempted to explain he was there not to cause any issue.

“At this point, the accused and another male opened the car door and pulled him out of the vehicle.

“Mr Sloan started to record this and the accused started to repeatedly kick Mr Sloan.

“Mr Sloan captured the accused kick him on the chest and the accused left with the two males. Police were contacted.

“Officers attended and system checks in relation to fox hunt nominals were carried out which identified the accused as the man in Mr Sloan’s video.”

Ms Feeney told the court that Mr Sloan was against fox hunting and was parked at the side of the road to observe if anything “untoward” took place, and it appeared that Wright was a “fan” of fox-hunting.

Defence agent Craig Broadley told the court Wright, who works for a local landscaping company “accepts” his behaviour.

Broadley added: “He doesn’t think he kicked the man particularly hard but he understands that doesn’t make a difference.

“He had been drinking with a friend fishing in the local area and when he was walking home he met the group.

“He does accept his actions and acting aggressively and that his behaviour was unacceptable.”

Sentencing Wright, Sheriff Eoin McGinty told him : “This was a particularly frightening incident for Mr Sloan as he was surrounded by a mob and manhandled from his car and thereafter you kicked him on the chest.”

The sentence was strongly welcomed by the Glasgow Hunt Sabs group – a group dedicated to protecting wild animals from hunters that Mr Sloan is a part of.

A spokesperson for the group told national newspaper the Express: “We are pleased with this outcome.

“John Wright is guilty of attacking not only a lone, but also disabled member of our group, who was dragged from his car as he monitored illegal hunting at the Lanarkshire & Renfrewshire Foxhounds.

“The brave actions of our sab, who managed to film part of the incident, certainly helped with the verdict.

“On the day in question, members of our group were subjected to violent threats constantly from hunt staff looking for fights. Before the attack took place, another of our vehicles had its tyres slashed.”

Glasgow Hunt Sabs continuously call for stronger fox-hunting laws to be introduced by the Scottish Government, the spokesperson added: “Those associated with the Lanarkshire & Renfrewshire Foxhounds continuously demonstrate why stronger, more meaningful fox hunting laws are needed.

“But until the Scottish Government brings its laws into line, we at Glasgow Hunt Sabs will not be deterred by cowardly acts of violence, and will continue to protect wildlife from the immeasurable cruelty in our countryside.”

Sentencing | 12-month supervision order with180 hours of unpaid work; £500 compensation to victim.

Daily Record
Glasgow Hunt Sabs’ FB post 23 August 2022

Additional Information

In March 2022 Wright was given a community sentence, fine and driving ban after being caught driving while six times over the legal limit of alcohol. He was also in possession of a locking knife without an excuse. Wright’s lawyer told the court how there is a “background of alcohol misuse and addition” adding that his client is attending Alcoholics Anonymous.

Oban Times (Pressreader link)

animal fighting / baiting, Dogs, foxes, hunting with dogs, hunts, Organised Animal Crime, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Mount Bures, Essex: Paul O’Shea

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CONVICTED (2022) | East Essex Hunt terrier-man Paul O’Shea born c.1973, of Lower Jennies, Mount Bures, Bures CO8 5AP – stabbed a terrified fox with a garden fork.

Secret filming caught cruel Paul O’Shea using a dog to flush a fox from an artificial earth before attacking it with a garden fork

O’Shea admitted hunting a wild mammal with dogs and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

The terrier-man was captured on camera alongside 16-year-old daughter Scarlett O’Shea in Great Monks Wood in Pattiswick, Essex, in December 2021. Secret filming by the North London Hunt Saboteurs showed O’Shea using a Patterdale terrier dog to flush a fox out of artificial earth and catching it in a net placed over the entrance. He subsequently attacked the fox with a garden fork by ‘stabbing it’ several times before kicking it.

Magistrate Paul Jee said there was a “deliberate” and “high level” of suffering.

“In the first instance, there was the use of a ‘hard terrier’ which was chasing and biting the fox underground, and still hanging on to it when it came out,” he said.

“We heard that the fox was picked up by his brush, which would have caused terror and suffering ,and we saw for ourselves repeated attempts to stab the fox with a fork. Whether it pierced the skin or not, we don’t know, the body was never found.”

Scarlett O’Shea, who was present throughout the harrowing incident, was also charged with hunting a wild animal with dogs, but the case against her was discontinued.

PC Jed Raven, of Essex Police’s Rural Engagement Team said: “This was a particularly nasty incident. The fox was attacked by the dog until O’Shea grabbed the fox by its tail to pull it out of the net. He then attacked the poor fox with a large garden fork, stabbing it several times, before kicking it.

“Sadly, we don’t know exactly what happened to the fox as the film did not capture this. What is certain is that the fox would have been caused a great deal of physical pain and discomfort, as well as mental terror. This is simply not acceptable.

“The film footage of the incident was extremely distressing. We were determined to ensure O’Shea did not get away with his cruel acts so we immediately sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, which helped us to secure the charges against him.”

“O’Shea maliciously targeted a fox with his dog before violently stabbing it with a garden fork. The footage that was captured showed his cruel treatment of the fox, and this key evidence led to O’Shea’s guilty pleas. Cruelty to animals is unacceptable and we are working closely with specialist police rural engagement teams across the country to bring perpetrators to justice.”

CPS district prosecutor Sally Robinson said: “This was an abhorrent example of animal cruelty and hunting committed by a terrier-man in the East Essex Hunt. Mr O’Shea flushed a fox and then utilised a pitchfork to commit unnecessary suffering to it. The Crown Prosecution Service take all cases of animal cruelty and hunting offences seriously and where the Full Code Test is met, will take steps to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.”

Sentencing | 18-week suspended prison term; 200 hours of community service; £233 total costs. Banned from keeping any dog for five years. O’Shea received no separate penalty for hunting a wild mammal with dogs – an offence under the Hunting Act 2004.

Essex Live
Ham & High

Additional Information

Paul O’Shea is employed as a project manager with the Orchard Group. The CEO of that firm, Simon Fordham, is reportedly an ex huntmaster himself.

Paul O’Shea with wife, Wendy

O’Shea is married to Wendy O’Shea, who is one of the Joint Masters of the East Essex Hunt

Paul O’Shea with children Charlie and Scarlett

In addition to 16-year-old Scarlett, the couple have an adult son named Charlie O’Shea, who like his father is a terrier man for the East Essex Hunt. He also operates an agricultural business named O’Shea Contractors

Source: Hunting Leaks

hunts, Other Mammals

Brompton, North Yorkshire: Chris Barker

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CONVICTED (2022) | Christopher Barker, born June 1977, of Barker Rails Farm, Carr Lane, Brompton, Scarborough YO13 9DH – tormented a pod of dolphins by repeatedly circling them in his speedboat.

Chris Baker. Photos: Facebook.

Barker, director of All Game and Eggs Ltd and Chubby Eggs Ltd, aimed the small water craft at the group of cetaceans off the Scarborough coast on 9 July, 2021

Witnesses said Barker, who is also a terrierman with the Derwent Hunt, had driven at speeds of up to 25 knots (30 mph).

In his defence, he said he had only owned the boat for a month and was unaware of dolphins’ protected status.

Geoff Ellis, prosecuting, read a number of witness statements which suggested the speedboat had come within 20 to 30m of the group of bottlenose dolphins.

The aquatic creatures tried to move further out to sea but were unable to do so, and at one point were split up into two.

Witnesses estimated it took 10 minutes for Barker to stop, despite people on a nearby pier and on a passing boat trying to attract his attention, Mr Ellis said.

Mr Ellis said the defendant had told police he only purchased the boat in June 2021 and had no experience or training in its use at sea.

The defendant’s solicitor said he had set out knowing “nothing about dolphins” and had no experience in handling the boat.

When interviewed by police he told officers he was unaware of the legal protections provided to dolphins and had been “stupid rather than reckless”.

Barker’s solicitor said he had received a great deal of unpleasant messages on social media as a result of the case.

She said he had done “something stupid,” which he acknowledged and apologised for.

Barker, who had initially denied the offence, admitted intentionally and recklessly disturbing an endangered species.

District Judge Adrian Lower said it was the first case of its kind heard by the court and he was sure the defendant had no idea his actions would “amount to a criminal offence”.

Sentencing | fined £200 plus costs and surcharge totalling £334.

BBC News

hunts, Non-Abuse Cases

Skeffington, Leicestershire: Mark Ferguson

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CONVICTED (2022) | Mark Marshall Ferguson, born November 1972, of 2 Vale Lodge, Rolleston Road, Skeffington LE7 9YD – attacked a hunt saboteur with a horse crop.

Fox hunter Mark Ferguson

Mark Ferguson, a director of the Woodland Pytchley Hunt, was found guilty of assault and criminal damage following a clash with Peterborough Hunt Sabs in October 2019.

The court heard that Ferguson grabbed a woman by the back of her collar before striking her on the head with his riding crop in a field near Clipston.

Mark Ferguson is caught on camera attacking a hunt saboteur. Image source: Peterborough Hunt Sabs

Ferguson pleaded not guilty to both offences but was convicted and ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £2,125.

Police confirmed the victim — who was in her 50s — suffered a cut head and bruising to her neck after Ferguson rode up behind her on his horse during an altercation between members of the Brixworth-based Pytchley Hunt and the group in October 2019.

She was also thrown backwards, causing her phone to smash.

Northamptonshire Police rural crime officer, PC Chloe Gillies, said: “I am pleased that Mark Ferguson was found guilty of these offences at court as this type of behaviour is unacceptable.

“Ferguson’s actions here could have had far more serious consequences and for the victim’s sake, I am pleased that they didn’t.

“There is never an excuse to assault someone and Northamptonshire Police will always pursue criminal action against any offender.”

Northampton Chronicle

Additional information

Mark Ferguson is a chartered surveyor with his own firm, Mark Ferguson Ltd.

Cats, hunts

Penzance, West Cornwall: John Sampson

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CONVICTED (2021) | master of the Western Hunt John Lanyan Sampson, of Trelew Farm, St Buryan, Penzance TR19 6ED – allowed a pack of hounds to kill an elderly cat while she rested outside her house.

Huntsmen John Sampson (left) and son Edward Sampson. Although the latter wasn’t prosecuted, it was he who callously threw Mini’s body into a neighbour’s garden.

Hunt master John Sampson was found guilty of allowing the fox-hounds to maul 14-year-old Mini to death.

He was ordered to pay £1600 for being in charge of dogs that were dangerously out of control.

Elderly Mini was mauled to death by a pack of out-of-control fox hounds.

Mini the cat was killed outside her home in Madron, Cornwall in March 2021.

The incident was filmed on a mobile phone by a neighbour of the cat’s owner, Carly Jose.

The video footage shows that after a dog dropped the cat, Sampson’s son Edward threw her lifeless body over a fence into a back garden of a neighbour in Trafalgar Fields, Madron, Penzance.

Chris Rendell, prosecuting, told the court Sampson, his son and his son’s girlfriend were on horseback exercising a pack of around 21 dogs in fields close to the estate on the morning of March 6, 2021.

The hounds from the Western Hunt following a scent through gorse and bracken.

Around six dogs broke away from the main pack and entered the cul-de-sac where they chased, caught and killed the cat.

Neighbour Charlie Knight filmed the incident on his mobile phone, while another neighbour, Peter Nicholls, spoke to Edward Sampson, a whipper-in.

Mr Nicholls told the court he heard barking and a meow and went outside to see if it was one of his cats.

Mr Nicholls said he grabbed his walking stick and went outside and saw Edward Sampson.

“He had a whip in his hand, and I saw the cat fall from the nose of the dog, and he was running and he scooped the body of the cat up off the road and flicked it straight over the hedge into my garden,” he said.

“I grabbed the stick just in case I had to beat the hounds off the cat, or they came at me.”

Asked what happened next, Mr Nicholls said: “He whipped the two hounds away and coming past me I said I’d seen what he had done, and he said, ‘I’m sorry, I’ll be back in a minute’.

“He then ran off and spoke to Carly next door, apologised to her and said he was sorry and then ran off towards the kennels being pursued by the bloke filming him.”

Mr Knight said he saw a group of hounds chasing the cat, which tried to jump over a fence to get away, before it was mauled by the pack.

“A man appeared who picked up the cat, looked around, which I perceived to be him looking for witnesses, then threw the black cat over the wooden fence into the back garden,” he said.

“I saw the man fleeing, so decided to follow him to get a clear shot of his face for the video. He said to me he was coming back once he had sorted out the hounds.”

John Sampson was met outside court by a group of animal welfare protestors.
John Sampson was met outside court by a group of animal welfare protestors.

A post-mortem examination confirmed Mini died as a result of being “grabbed and shaken” by at least one dog”. Her injuries included a broken back and broken ribs, but the vet said in a statement that it was likely Mini’s suffering would have been “relatively short”.

Sampson had denied charges of criminal damage and being the owner or person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control in a private or public place.

Sampson was acquitted of criminal damage but found guilty of the second charge.

Outside court, Ms Jose said: “The complete disregard for people’s animals, any animals, is just vile, utterly disturbing”.

She added: “You want an animal to die with dignity, like a person will want to die with dignity. Mini didn’t die with dignity.

“She was scared and thrown after she was killed.”

Following the incident, Ms Jose set up a petition for “Mini’s law”, to make it illegal for hunts to go near residential or public areas.

More than 100,000 signed it meaning the matter will be debated in Parliament.

Martin Sims, director of investigations at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “This sickening incident illustrates the havoc fox hunts are having on local communities and domestic animals and wildlife across the UK.”

Sentencing: fined £480 and ordered to pay £350 compensation to Ms Jose, £775 court costs and a £48 victim surcharge.

BBC News
Cornwall Live
Mirror

Update April 2022

The BBC reported that John Sampson has had his appeal against conviction refused.

At the appeal hearing, Judge Simon Carr rejected Sampson’s application, saying it was a “violent death of a much-loved cat”.

Dogs, foxes, hunting with dogs, hunts, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Sherborne, Dorset: Mark Hankinson

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CONVICTED (2021) | senior huntsman Mark Hankinson, born 14 November 1960, of Frampton Farm, Chetnole Road, Leigh. Sherborne DT9 6HJ – encouraged illegal fox hunting in online talk.

Mark Hankinson pictured outside court.

Mark Hankinson, a director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association was found guilty of encouraging or assisting others to commit an offence under the Hunting Act.

Hankinson was caught in a leaked online training webinar telling hunts how to hunt illegally.

Recordings of Hankinson speaking to around 100 senior hunters in two private webinars in August 2020 were leaked online.

The prosecution argued he was giving advice on how to avoid the law.

The defence said he was advising what to do if saboteurs disrupt legal hunts.

At Westminster court Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram said “I am sure that the defendant through his words was giving advice on how to illegally hunt with dogs.”

“In my judgement he was clearly encouraging the mirage of trail laying to act as cover for illegal hunting,” he added.

Mr Hankinson was fined £1,000 along with a contribution of £2,500 towards legal costs.

The Masters of Foxhounds Association said it was considering an appeal of the verdict.

“We will be setting up a review which will be conducted to ensure that hunts are in a position to offer reassurances to all landowners and other stakeholders that hunts are operating within the law,” said Chairman of the Masters of Foxhounds Association Andrew Osborne.

The videos of Hankinson came to light when they were leaked to anti-hunting groups and then posted online.

The trial at Westminster Magistrates Court took place over three days in September 2021. Clips of the video recordings were played in court.

The case rested on the context of the advice Hankinson gave in the webinars.

In the recordings he told participants “if you’ve got saboteurs out with you in any shape or form we need to have clear, visible, plausible trail laying being done throughout the day.”

“It’s a lot easier to create a smokescreen if you’ve got more than one trail layer operating.”

Hankinson told the court that when he said “smokescreen” he was giving advice on laying dummy trails to confuse potential saboteurs and allow legitimate hunting to continue.

Prosecuting barrister Gregory Gordon said in his closing submission that Hankinson was offering advice on how to hunt illegally “behind a smoke screen of trail hunting”.

“His words were clear, his advice was capable of encouraging hunts to commit illegal hunting, and his intention was to encourage illegal hunting,” Mr Gordon said.

Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram concluded: “Mr Hankinson’s advice that trail laying needed to be “plausible” was only necessary if it was a “sham and a fiction””

“It wasn’t just bad language as he suggested, there was a clear and common thread throughout the two separate webinars.”

“A specific aggravating factor was that you were speaking to large number of people. Your words potentially had an impact throughout the whole country.”

The League Against Cruel Sports said the case “has proven beyond doubt that trail hunting is nothing but a sham”.

It continued: “It’s hunting dressed up as something illegal, it uses this “smokescreen” [which] is nothing but an attempt to deceive somebody, an attempt to disguise illegal or nefarious activities. And this court case has proved that.”

Following the police investigation into Hankinson, a number of organisations withdrew their permission to allow hunts to cross their land. That included the National Trust, Forestry England, the Lake District National Park and Natural Resources Wales.

The court verdict is likely to lead to a review of this position. A motion to permanently ban trail hunting on National Trust land will be debated this month.

BBC News
ITV News

Update July 2022

It was reported that Hankinson’s appeal against conviction was successful.

The court considered whether Hankinson’s words were intentionally encouraging an offence.

Appeal Judge Gregory Perrins said “someone listening to his words might well have taken the view that he was encouraging illegal hunting”.

But Hankinson said he was referring to the practice of laying dummy trails to fool saboteurs.

Judge Perrins said: “We accept his role within the Hunting Office was to ensure compliance with the law and the Hunting Office itself is committed to lawful hunting.”

He added: “In those circumstances it would be unusual if they now took the decision to host a series of webinars which included advice on how to work around the ban.”

After the decision, the League Against Cruel Sports urged the government to strengthen the Hunting Act.

“The appeal result changes nothing in terms of our position, because only by strengthening the Hunting Act, by closing its many loopholes and outlawing so-called trail hunting, can illegal hunting be properly stopped and those determined to carry on persecuting wildlife brought to justice,” said Andy Knott, the league’s chief executive.

BBC News

Additional information:

Mark Hankinson brought about his own downfall after speaking at a webinar attended by the morally bankrupt Hunting Office and over 100 from the wider fox hunting community but he was not alone.

Speakers at the notorious

Other speakers included:

  • Benjamin Mancroft, Chairman of the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA) – a Tory peer
  • Richard Tyacke – Director, Association of Masters of Harriers and Beagles (AMHB)
  • Richard Gurney – senior master of the Old Surrey Burstow and West Kent Hunt
  • Paul Jelley – a retired Avon & Somerset Police officer
  • Phil Davies – Countryside Alliance, retired Chief Inspector with Dyfed-Powys Police
  • Will Day – Vice Chairman of the New Forest Hounds
  • Alice Bowden – Director, the Hunting Office.

More than 100 hunt staff and masters of hunts attended the online webinars in August 2020. YouTube have removed the footage following a “copyright claim” by the Hunting Office but you can still view it here.

animal fighting / baiting, badger baiting, Dogs, foxes, hunting with dogs, hunts, Organised Animal Crime, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Chulmleigh, North Devon: Eggesford Hunt terriermen Seward Folland and Nathan Bowes

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CONVICTED (2021) | Seward Folland, born c. 1946, of Twenty Acres, Puddington, Tiverton EX16 9PE and Nathan Bowes, born c. 1995, of the Bothy Kennels, Station Road, Brixworth, Northampton NN6 9BP – filmed interfering with a badger sett as they tried to flush out a fox

Eggesford Hunt terriermen Seward Folland and Nathan Bowes

Folland and Bowes were filmed by hunt saboteurs as they blocked entrances to badger setts at Chulmleigh, Devon, in November 2019.

Bowes was convicted of two offences, and fined £940.

Folland was fined a total of £732 for one offence.

Both men, from the Eggesford Hunt, said the setts were inactive at the time of the incident, but Deputy District Judge Roderick Hine ruled they were in use.

Bowes, who was a kennel man, told the court he was there to “humanely dispatch” a fox which had gone to ground.

Fox-hunting terrierman Seward Folland

Terrier man Folland, with 45 years’ experience, said Bowes laid nets to “bolt the fox in the net to be humanely destroyed”.

Judge Hine said their convictions were based on the grounds of “recklessness rather than deliberate interference”, and said they failed to carry out proper inspections of the setts as they were in a “hurry to get the fox out”.

Wildlife killer: Nathan Bowes from Northampton

Greg Gordon, prosecuting, told the court that four hunt monitors were watching the Eggesford Hunt when they filmed the two defendants in woodland.

He said both men were trying to flush out a fox and the footage showed them blocking the entrance to the setts with earth, debris and nets.

Alex West, defending both men, said Folland had made a mistake and said the conviction for Bowes would be significant as he still works in the hunting sector.

BBC News

Dogs, foxes, hunting with dogs, hunts, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Woodlands, Doncaster: Robert Nevill

3 Comments

CONVICTED (2021) | Robert David Nevill, born 11 August 1988, of 95 Shaftsbury Avenue, Woodlands, Doncaster DN6 7TH – attacked a hunt saboteur group’s vehicle with the body of a dead fox

Robert Nevill with partner Lisa Youngman
Robert Nevill with partner Lisa Youngman

Robert Nevill, supporter of the Badsworth and Bramham Moor Hunt and an animal persecutor in his own right, was caught on video smashed the poor animal’s remains repeatedly against the window of the vehicle while horrified members of the Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs screamed at him to stop.

The shocking footage shows other hunt thugs goading Nevill on. These included his partner Lisa Youngman (aka Lisa Frost), born 18 December 1979, her son Morgan Teale (aka Morgan Kmiotek), born 20 August 2000, his then partner Molly Marisa, plus Adam Oakes, born c. 1992, of Finlay Road, Rotherham, and Adam Harrison of 22 Welfare Avenue, Doncaster DN12 3NH.

Hunt thugs that appeared in the shocking video that led to Nevill's conviction
Hunt thugs that appeared in the shocking video that led to Nevill’s conviction
Police mugshot of Adam Oakes
Police mugshot of Adam Oakes. This was taken after he was charged (and later convicted) of driving a quad bike towards a police officer.
Serial wildlife killer Adam Harrison from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, UK

Only Nevill was charged, however, and in May 2021 he was sentenced after pleading guilty to offences of ‘criminal damage’ and an ‘act of outraging public decency’.

Robert Nevil
Robert Nevill and Lisa Youngman
Robert Nevill caught on camera with a Patterdale terrier digging for wildlife
A wildlife persecutor in his own right, Nevill regularly uploads photos of his ‘kills’ to social media

He was ordered to pay a total of £460 in fines, costs and compensation and to carry out 360 hours of unpaid work.

Source: Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs Facebook post of 19 May 2021.

Additional information

Robert Nevill, Lisa Youngman and Morgan Teal run a business named R&L Landscaping. Their business Facebook page is currently deactivated.

Dogs, foxes, hunting with dogs, hunts, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire: Kimblewick Hunt Associates Ian Parkinson and Mark Vincent

3 Comments

CONVICTED (2019) | Kimblewick Hunt terrier-men Ian James Kirby Parkinson, born c. 1955, of Folly Farm, Lower Road, Haddenham, Aylesbury HP17 8TP, and Mark Anthony Vincent, born c. 1966, of Kennel Cottages, Kimblewick, Aylesbury HP17 9TA – pulled out a captive fox by his tail from an underground artificial sett and released him into the path of hounds.

Ian Parkinson (left) and Mark Vincent of the Kimblewick Hunt dragged a captive fox from an artificial sett and threw her into the path of foxhounds
Ian Parkinson (left) and Mark Vincent of the Kimblewick Hunt dragged a captive fox from an artificial sett and threw her into the path of foxhounds

Ian Parkinson and Mark Vincent were found guilty of one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Covert footage obtained by the Hunt Saboteurs’ Association in January 2019 appeared to show a fox being held captive, trapped in pipes underground.

The court heard that one man could be seen assembling a rod from pipes, which the association said was used to push the fox into position.

Mark Vincent is employed by the Kimblewick Hunt
Mark Vincent is employed by the Kimblewick Hunt

Another man then appeared to forcibly drag the fox out of the hole by his hind legs as the animal tried to squirm away, before letting him run loose.

Minutes later a pack of hounds were seen to run past, sniffing at the ground.

District Judge Kamlesh Rana said the men had “put this fox at substantial risk of further suffering”.

During their trial, prosecutor Peter Rymon said the men had “clearly placed” the fox “in the path of a hunt at the time the hunt was arriving” in the woodland in Moreton near Thame.

“The rodding caused it unnecessary suffering and pulling it out by the tail enhanced that,” he added.

Mr Rymon said animals rendered “under the control of man” had “enhanced rights and those rights are the person in control of it should not cause unnecessary suffering”.

It emerged that Vincent was the President of the Kimblewick Hunt, which operates in Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. He is also named as a local event coordinator in a hunt newsletter.

Martin Sims, director of investigations at the League Against Cruel Sports and former head of the police’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, said the case “provided clear evidence that the Kimblewick Hunt is flouting the hunting ban”.

District Judge Rana previously said the defendants’ actions were “deliberate and pre-mediated” but said during their sentencing that they “weren’t the brains of the operation”.

Sentencing: 12 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for a period of 12 months. 120 hours of unpaid work; 15 rehabilitation days. £113 victim surcharge each plus £960 in costs.

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