CONVICTED (2019) | William Tatler, born c. 1973, of The Green, Idridgehay, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 2SJ, and Samuel Staniland, born c. 1987, of Hadleigh, Ipswich IP7 – for illegal fox hunting, with cubs being targeted.
Will Tatler (left) and Sam Staniland received pitiful fines after being filmed illegally hunting a fox
Joint master Will Tatler and huntsman Sam Staniland admitted hunting a wild mammal with dogs at Spath Covert, in Sutton-on-the-Hill, Derbyshire, on October 2, 2018.
The men were charged under the Hunting Act 2004, which says people who illegally hunt foxes can be fined but not sent to prison.
Sam Staniland has since left the hunt and moved from Sudbury to Hadleigh near Ipswich
It was the second time people from MSSH have been prosecuted for fox hunting. Two other men from the hunt – Johnny Greenall and Glen Morris – were caught illegally hunting fox cubs in 2011.
The case against four other associates of the hunt was dismissed.
Charges against assistant terrierman Sam Stanley were dropped
They were assistant terrier man Samuel Stanley, 25, of Burton Road, Needwood; terrier man Andrew Bull, 51, of Meynell Hunt Kennels, Ashbourne Road, Sudbury; whipper-in John ‘Ollie’ Finnegan, 33, of Gaddesby Lane, Kirby Bellars; and joint master Peter Southwell, 61, of Tolldish Lane, Great Haywood.
Terrierman Andy Bull also had the charges against him dropped
All six men had previously pleaded not guilty and were set to face trial, but Staniland and Tatler changed their plea to guilty before the trial.
The prosecution came after the League Against Cruel Sports filmed a fox being hunted and gave the footage to police.
League Against Cruel Sports investigator Roger Swaine captured the footage on 2 October 2018 at Spath Covert in Sutton-on-the-Hill, Derbyshire – the same area where two other men from the hunt were caught illegally hunting fox cubs in 2011.
Mr Swaine said they were “cub hunting”, which is when hounds are trained to hunt fox cubs.
“They were in the same place, it was the same hunt, doing exactly the same thing,” said Mr Swaine, who also filmed the previous footage.
He said he was “disappointed” by the fine.
“The problem is they are very well financed and they have a very good legal defence team,” he said.
“To receive just a fine for this barbaric activity shows the need to strengthen the Hunting Act, including the introduction of prison sentences,” he said.
Still from footage filmed by the League Against Cruel Sports showing a fox being illegally targeted by Meynell and South Staffordshire Hunt associates
In a statement issued through the Countryside Alliance, the Meynell and South Staffordshire Hunt said the Hunting Act was “a difficult and troublesome piece of legislation”.
“It is complex and open to misinterpretation,” the statement said.
“The Meynell and South Staffordshire Hunt regrets that in this case some individuals were unable to show that they had fulfilled all the conditions of the relevant exemption, as set out in Schedule 1 of the Act.
“The Hunt confirms that moving forward it will continue to operate within the law, utilising both artificial trails and the exemptions provided in the Act.”
Sentencing: fined £535 and ordered to pay £150 towards legal costs.
CONVICTED (2019) | Paul Oliver, born c. 1978, and Hannah Rose, born c. 1988, both of Sutton Crosses, Long Sutton, Spalding PE12, Paul Reece, born c. 1970, of Grove View, Usk Road, Chepstow NP16 6SA and Julie Elmore, born c. 1963, of Brynarw Estate, Cwmyoy, Abergavenny NP7 7ND – convicted of cruelty to foxes after cubs were fed to hounds.
Fox cub killers Paul Oliver, Paul Reece, Hannah Rose and Julie Elmore
Footage obtained by a group called the Hunt Investigation Team (HIT) was instrumental in the successful prosecution of Paul Oliver, master of hounds with the now disbanded South Herefordshire Hunt.
Disgraced Master and Huntsman of the now defunct South Herefordshire Hunt, Paul Oliver
Oliver was convicted of four counts of animal cruelty for allowing his hounds to kill four fox cubs and was handed a 16-week suspended jail sentence for causing their “painful, terrifying” deaths.
District Judge Joanna Dickens, sitting at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court, also imposed a 12-week suspended sentence on Oliver’s partner, Hannah Rose, the hunt’s kennel maid.
South Herefordshire Hunt kennel maid Hannah Rose pictured outside court
The pair were ordered to pay £300 in costs and a £115 victim surcharge after being convicted of causing unnecessary suffering.
Hannah Rose and Paul Oliver pictured outside court.
HIT, a relatively new group whose members include ex-services personnel, received training in covert investigative methods.
They fixed a device to Oliver’s Land Rover following a tip-off and tracked him to a site where they suspected he was catching fox cubs in May 2016.
They also set up cameras at the hunt’s kennels and obtained footage they said proved Oliver was catching cubs and taking them back to his hounds to “blood” them.
Paul Oliver was filmed taking live fox cubs from a crate into a kennel block at the South Herefordshire Hunt. A short time later he was captured disposing of the cubs’ mutilated bodies.Paul Oliver’s girlfriend Hannah Rose looks on as he handles the fox cubs. Photo credit: Hunt Investigation Team.
The court heard that one camera recorded Oliver dumping the bodies of two cubs in a wheelie bin.
The activists are said to have taken legal advice from lawyers and animal welfare organisations who told them they could not recover the cubs as this would amount to theft.
They said they did not pass the case to the police because they did not believe officers would have the resources to follow it up.
HIT members, who are involved in several ongoing investigations, are so worried about reprisals that one was allowed to give evidence during the seven-day trial from behind a screen.
Terrierman Paul Reece was filmed delivering a fox cub to the crate. Nathan Parry, who unbelievably was acquitted, was also present along with his girlfriend Julie Elmore (pictured)
Julie Elmore and Paul Reece admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to cubs which were distressed by being transported to the kennels.
Elmore and Reece were given conditional discharges and ordered to pay costs of £50 after the judge said both had been “motivated by consideration” for two fox cubs.
A fifth defendant, Nathan Parry, born c. 1978, also of Brynarw estate, Abergavenny,was cleared of all charges.
Unbelievably Nathan Parry was acquitted with judges believing his implausible account
Parry took foxes to kennels but was found not guilty after the judge accepted he believed they would be relocated in the wild.
Martin Sims, director of investigations at the League Against Cruel Sports and former head of the police’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, said: “We believe the incidents show that hunts are clearly still hunting as the poor fox cubs were thrown into the kennels to give the hounds a taste for blood.
“The barbarity of these incidents is sickening and will horrify the vast majority of the British public who are overwhelmingly opposed to fox hunting.”
Deborah Marshall, HIT spokeswoman, said: “This case has taken far too long to come to court and we have faced false allegations against investigators and obstruction throughout. We are glad that justice has finally taken its course.
“The capture of fox cubs to be used to train hounds is nothing new and is widespread across Britain, as is the mass destruction of healthy hounds to make way for younger ones. We will continue to expose cruelty and wildlife crime.”
The Masters of Foxhounds Association suspended the South Herefordshire Hunt after the footage emerged and it has since disbanded.
A spokesperson for the association said Oliver’s actions were “completely disgraceful” and had no place in hunting.
CONVICTED (2018) | huntsman George R Adams, born c. 1951, of Ramshill Cottages, Stamford Road, Peterborough PE6 7EZ – used a pack of hounds to kill a fox
Fitzwilliam huntsman George Adams was convicted of breaching the Hunting Act after hounds killed a fox.
Adams, a huntsman with the Fitzwilliam Hunt, was in charge of the pack of hounds when it killed a fox on January 1, 2016.
Falconer John Mease was found not guilty of the charge and also not guilty of causing unnecessary cruelty to an animal relating to hunting of a fox in 2013
The court heard that the hunt started in Wansford, Cambridgeshire and that the fox was eventually killed near Elton by the pack of hounds.
Adams’ co-defendant John Mease, of 3 Kennels Cottages, Milton Park, Peterborough PE6 7AB, who was present at the hunt with a golden eagle, was found not guilty after a court heard he used the bird of prey to catch animals, rather than a pack of dogs.
Mease was further cleared of causing unnecessary cruelty to an animal despite ‘dispatching’ another fox by driving a KNIFE through its eye after it was caught by his raptor in 2013.
The court heard from saboteurs Ruth Nichols and Stephen Milton, who had tracked the hunt.
Video footage shown to the court taken by Mr Milton, which involved around 40 hounds – with the sound of a hunting horn clearly heard.
Mr Milton said he had seen the hunt tracking the fox, and had not heard any calls to ward the dogs off from the fox.
George Adams with the kill.
Adams, who joined the Fitzwilliam Hunt in 1981 and became a huntsman in 1984, told the court he had not seen the fox before it was killed.
When asked if it was his intention to kill the fox with hounds, he said: ‘Absolutely not. We wanted to flush it out for the bird of prey.’
Mr Mease told the court there was no chance for him to release his golden eagle to catch the fox because the saboteurs were in the field, which would provide a risk to the bird.
He was asked why he never radioed Adams to call the hunt off.
He said: ‘A hunt is a fluid thing. It was changing minute by minute. It was the heat of the moment and it was the first time I had come across saboteurs in my 11 years.’
He told the court he was in charge of the bird but had no control over the pack of hounds, which was Adams’ responsibility.
Speaking after the trial, Hunt Saboteurs Association spokesperson Lee Moon said: ‘To anyone who witnessed the events on the day in question it was abundantly clear that a wild mammal was hunted and killed illegally, in a most gruesome manner.
‘Although a fox had to suffer and die due to the blatant and remorseless actions of the defendants we are pleased that hunt saboteurs were able to bring at least one of them to justice.
‘We would like to thank Cambridgeshire police who conducted a robust and unbiased investigation.
‘The loopholes and exemptions in the current act have always been cynically exploited by hunts in order to operate much as they would have done prior to the ban.
‘The guilty verdict proves that hunting with a full pack of hounds is not the same as Falconry and the judge in summing up confirmed as much.
‘The outcome will of course have wider reaching implications for all those hunts around the country who claim to use this exemption.
‘We will continue to vigorously oppose those who gain enjoyment from the torture and killing of our wildlife and will use all the tools at our disposal to those ends.
‘We have the overwhelming support of the general public who wish to see an end to the barbaric minority pastime.’
Sentencing | fined £1,000 and ordered to pay £950 costs.
CONVICTED (2018) | badger baiting ring members David William Lloyd Thomas, born 21/03/1966, of Cwm Bowydd Farm, Blaenau Ffestiniog LL41 3EL, Marc Wynn Morris, born 19/05/1991, of Jones Street, Blaenau Ffestiniog LL41 3YF, Jordan Alexander Houlston, born 04/08/1993, of Alexandra Road, Llandudno LL30 2DQ* and an unnamed 17-year-old
Convicted badger baiters and dog abusers David Thomas and Jordan Houlston
The four men were convicted following an RSPCA probe into badger baiting and animal fighting at Cwm Bowydd Farm, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, North Wales LL41 3EL.
The undercover investigation into the activities of Houlston and co, which was led by Ian Briggs of the RSPCA’s special operations unit, featured in a May 2018 documentary produced by BBC Wales entitled ‘The Secret World of Badger Baiting’.
The programme also uncovered a scene of horror at Cwm Bowydd farm, which is co-owned by David Thomas, sole master of the Dwyrd hunt .
Animal cruelty on a massive scale was taking place at the farm with dozens of neglected dogs found locked away in brick enclosures with no natural light.
Several dogs were kept in appalling conditions at the farm
Two foxes were found in a cage which had been placed close to a barn in which fox hounds were being kept.
At the farm the RSPCA discovered two foxes in a cage placed near to a barn containing fox hounds The terrified foxes were trapped in a cage which was placed next to kennels containing hunting hounds
A search of Jordan Houlston’s flat found several dogs in external and others living in tiny enclosures inside including in the property’s bathroom.
Investigators discovered animal medication at the flat and a number of books on hunting with dogs and badger baiting.
A total of 31 dogs were taken from Houlston’s flat and the farm to be examined by a vet.
One rescued Patterdale terrier had fresh injuries to her nose, damage to her jaw and a peeling wound on her chin.
The court heard how artificial badger setts were found at the farm along with seven skulls, possibly those of foxes or badgers.
The RSPCA said this fake sett was used to hold a badger
Pipes were used to hold captive animals and dogs were brought to a copse and forced to fight with them.
Video footage showed badger baiting, which has been illegal since 1835.
A badger had been brought to the area in advance and arrangements made for dogs to chase and injure the animal.
The presiding judge Gwyn Jones said: “Fortunately, we didn’t see how the badger was ultimately killed, but it’s quite clear the death would have been slow and no doubt extremely painful.
“That activity would also have had an adverse impact on the dogs.
“This was a deliberate and planned venture to cause suffering to an animal,”
“Mr Thomas and Mr Houlston played a leading role.”
Thomas was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a badger by causing it to fight with dogs.
One of the two terrified foxes saved from a cruel death at David Thomas’s farm
He was also found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to two foxes by keeping them caged close to dogs, causing the foxes to be terrified, and other animal welfare allegations.
Jordan Houlston was convicted of ill-treating a badger, and unnecessary suffering by causing a badger to fight with dogs at Cwm Bowydd Farm in February 2017.
Jordan Houston is approved by the Master of Foxhounds Association
He was also found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to four dogs and failing to meet the welfare needs of seven dogs.
Dogs rescued from the farm and Houlston’s flat
Morris pleaded guilty to wilfully injuring a badger, being present at an animal fight and causing unnecessary suffering to a badger by causing it to fight with a dog.
Sentencing: David Thomas – imprisoned for 22 weeks, and placed under close supervision for a 12-month period; costs of £5,000. Disqualified from keeping dogs for eight years.
Houlston – imprisoned for 20 weeks, and also placed under close supervision for a 12-month period; total of £750 costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping dogs for eight years.
Morris – 10-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months; 150 hours of unpaid work; total of £650 costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping dogs for four years.
The unnamed 17-year-old who had pleaded guilty to being present at an animal fight was ordered to pay a total of £220 in costs and banned from keeping dogs for four years.
Jordan Houlston is now reportedly living in Ffordd Gobaith, Mochdre, Colwyn Bay LL28 5BY.
March 2022
Jordan Houlston was back in court after being caught in possession of a lurcher in breach of his disqualification order. Houlston claimed the dog, named Scruffy, belonged to his farmer.
He told the court he had been visiting a farmer to help him catch a squirrel with a trap. His partner, who apparently has irritable bowel syndrome, went to the farmer’s toilet while Houston got the dog out of the boot.
But police turned up and found him alone with the dog – breaching his ban.
Houlston admitted breaching his disqualification under the Animal Welfare Act.
He was given a 12-month community order with a condition to do 140 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £95 surcharge.
David Thomas and his son Carwyn Lloyd Fazakerley appeared at Llandudno Magistrates Court where they pleaded guilty to multiple animal welfare charges .
Carwyn Fazakerley
It followed an investigation by the League Against Cruel Sports, at Cwm Bowydd Farm in Blaenau Ffestiniog. The charity found dogs were being kept there in awful conditions.
Footage obtained by the charity shows a foxhound being kicked and stamped on, another being chained up for days, some dead foxhounds being incinerated at the farm and a terrier being chained and kept in appalling conditions without water.
Source: League Against Cruel Sports
The investigation by the League Against Cruel Sports led to a raid by North Wales Police (NWP) and the RSPCA in November 2021 and the seizure of 34 dogs, including the entire foxhound pack.
The case was adjourned for sentencing on November 7 at 2pm.
David Thomas who’s also known as Dafydd Thomas or Dei Thomas
Chris Luffingham, director of external affairs at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “These dogs were treated disgustingly by people who should not have been allowed near them in the first place, and shows the blatant disregard those in the hunting community have for animals, whether wildlife or hound.
“Those who abuse animals for ‘sport’ will disgust the public and deserve to face the full weight of the law and go to jail.”
Thomas pleaded guilty to six charges under the Animal Welfare Act. Fazakerley pleaded guilty to a charge that 29 dogs were not kept in a suitable environment.
The RSPCA safely housed all the animals that were seized in the raid.
On Monday 7 November 2022, Snowdonia farmer David William Lloyd Thomas was jailed for 24 weeks after flouting his eight-year ban on keeping dogs.
Thomas, who had 2,000 acres and 2,000 sheep, admitted breaching a previous ban and failing to properly care for 29 dogs and two ferrets. He was also handed a fresh ten-year ban from keeping dogs or ferrets.
Source: League Against Cruel Sports
District judge Gwyn Jones told the hearing Thomas had three times breached a disqualification made in 2018 after a badger-baiting case.
Jones told the defendant: “I am quite satisfied it’s a wilful, deliberate and persistent breach of the order. No doubt you would have hoped with the passage of time people will no longer be concerned with regard to the way in which you deal with animals.”#
Carwyn Lloyd Fazakerley also admitted failing to provide a suitable environment for 29 dogs last November. Fazakerley, who was described by a probation officer as “loyal to his father”, was ordered to do 160 hours unpaid work and pay £600 costs.
He was also banned from owning dogs for ten years.
Deprivation orders were made for the two ferrets and 28 surviving dogs.
Speaking about the case Chris Luffingham, director of external affairs at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “These animals were kept in filthy, disgusting conditions and treated appallingly by Thomas and Fazakerley.
“When we reviewed our investigators’ footage we were shocked and appalled by what we saw – and incredibly concerned for the welfare of other animals we suspected were on the property.
“Unfortunately our fears were realised when the warrant was executed, and we are grateful to North Wales Police and the RSPCA for their work to safeguard these animals.
“We welcome today’s custodial sentence but are incredibly disappointed that as someone who has previously been jailed for animal cruelty that today’s sentence wasn’t far stronger, especially given the new sentencing powers available to the courts.”
Just a few days into his custodial sentence David William Lloyd Thomas was RELEASED from prison following a ruling by an incompetent judge.
Thomas appealed to Mold Crown Court and had his sentence reduced to 13 weeks suspended for a year. He must do 200 hours unpaid work and pay £756 costs. The additional 10-year ban on keeping dogs was lifted.
Appeal Judge Nicola Saffman said the new sentence was “just and proportionate.”
She ordered Thomas’s release from jail because of the impact on his brother running the farm and two children relying on Thomas’s emotional and financial support.
The League Against Cruel Sports, whose video evidence was crucial in securing Thomas’s conviction, reported the devastating news in an email to its followers. They wrote: “Thanks to our work all the animals on his farm are now safe, but this sentence is nowhere near enough to deter those who would do harm to animals. As a repeat offender Thomas should have been banned for LIFE from keeping animals.
“It’s incredibly disappointing that someone previously jailed for animal cruelty that the sentence wasn’t far stronger, especially given the new sentencing powers available to the courts.
“We were instrumental in the new Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act for maximum custodial sentences increasing from six months to five years. Now is the time to push for these sentences to be applied in extreme cases of animal abuse like this”.
CONVICTED (2016) | Samuel Lyas, born 27/03/1990, and Valentine Baldock, born 26/05/1984, both of Brent Pelham, Buntingford – for leaving their injured dogs to suffer after forcing them to fight foxes and badgers
Lyas (pictured) and Baldock admitted causing unnecessary suffering to terriers, some of whom were left with the skin ripped from their lower jaws.
The RSPCA’s special operations unit began investigating Lyas, who is originally from Witham in Essex, after being made aware of allegations that he used his dogs to attack wild animals. A warrant was executed by Herts Constabulary’s rural operations team at his home in April 2015.
RSPCA officers found six terriers, including a red male called Max and a black longhair called Bronson who both needed treatment for their injuries. Max was suffering ‘de-gloving’ injuries – the dog had no skin on his lower jaw, leaving the flesh exposed after it had been ripped off.
A tethering post was found by RSPCA and police officers, which pictures on Lyas’ phone showed was used to tie up foxes for the dogs to practise on.
A homemade noose was also found.
Sam Lyas
A separate warrant the same day at Baldock’s address, also in Brent Pelham, found more dogs, including black terriers called Gravel and Todd, with head, facial and jaw injuries which had not received proper treatment.
A vet also found staples in the corner of Gravel’s mouth, some of which had become partially detached from the skin. These had been inserted by Baldock.
A series of text messages between Lyas and a friend revealed Bronson had been involved in a fight with a fox. One text said: “Had hold of him from start to finish not a noise from him just grunted with his mouth full.”
Prosecutor Lauren Bond told the court: “These people are not fit and proper to look after animals.
“They have shown a complete contempt for the safety of animals, not just the dogs but the foxes.
“These are not injuries that have occurred by accident, they have occurred through deliberate placing of a dog in that situation.”
Lyas and Baldock lived in neighbouring houses in Brent Pelham, which were provided by their employers, who have since sacked and evicted them. While the employer is not named in the linked article, it is known that both men worked for the Puckeridge Hunt, Lyas as a terrierman and Baldock as a kennel huntsman. It is alleged that the hunt paid their legal costs but then cut ties just before conviction following negative publicity.
A screenshot of the Puckeridge Hunt website lists Valentine Baldock as a kennel huntsman.
The decision to seize a dog found in Lyas’ home drew an angry reaction from the public gallery, with his friends and family claiming she belonged to his partner.
One of his entourage shouted: “How much more do you want to take away?”
Lyas has a history of violence being part of a gang of thugs convicted for assault in 2010.
Sentencing: Lyas – 26-week custodial sentence, suspended for two years; £3,600 in costs; 280 hours’ unpaid work. Baldock – 225 hours’ community service; £3,025 in fines. Both banned from keeping animals for life.
CONVICTED (2013) | Avon Vale Hunt joint huntmaster Stuart Timothy Radbourne, born April 1984, of The Common, Chippenham SN15 2JJ and terrierman Benjamin George Pethers, born c. 1984, of Hoopers Pool, Southwick, Trowbridge BA14 9NG – “interfered” with a badger set.
Avon Vale joint huntmaster Stuart Radbourne (left) and terrierman Ben Pethers admitted interfering with a badger sett
Stuart Radbourne and Ben Pethers claimed they were trying to find a lost terrier called Jimmy after they were caught digging frantically at a badger sett.
The pair were charged with the badger set attack and jointly charged with breaching the Hunting Act along with Jonathon Seed, born February 1958, the former master of the Avon Vale Hunt, and two other hunt staff, Paul Tylee-Hinder, born c. 1954, and Josh Charlesworth, born c. 1994.
L-R Avon Vale Hunt employees Stuart Radbourne, Paul Tylee-Hinder, Ben Pethers and Joshua CharlseworthConservative councillor and former hunt master Jonathan Seed branded the court case a ‘complete outrage’
The RSPCA ultimately dropped the hunting charges after Radbourne and Pethers pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett.
The court heard that on March 6 ,2012, the five men, who were out hunting, were alerted that their dogs had marked a fox in a nearby field.
Radbourne and Pethers, who were riding on a quad bike, reached the area first and began to assess the situation.
They let the inexperienced terrier, Jimmy, loose and he ran off and disappeared.
The huntsmen located the dog in the sett after they heard barking from below the ground.
They tried to use a location collar to pull him out but when that failed they began digging at the ground to free him, the court was told.
Jeremy Cave, prosecuting, said: ‘An onlooker saw the men digging in the sett and describes the digging as furious with soil flying.
‘The police and the RSPCA turned up and the men were questioned.
‘There had been considerable interference with the set, digging and filling in the entrances. In total there were 15 entrances to the sett, 11 of which had been blocked.
‘RSPCA Inspector Ian Burns, who turned up at the site, described it as “the worst find he has ever witnessed in his 25 years of being an inspector”.’
He added that Radbourne had been seen by another onlooker waist deep in the sett digging.
Avon Vale Hunt employee Paul Tylee-Hinder from Calne, Wiltshire and his terrier
The traumatised terrier eventually resurfaced two hours after he had first become stuck, suffering deep cuts and puncture wounds to his neck and face.
The RSPCA had originally brought charges against all five huntsman of breaking the Hunting Act ban, but decided to drop the cases after accepting the guilty pleas from Radbourne and Pethers.
Seed, of Bromham, Tylee-Hinder, of Calne, and Charlesworth, of East Tytherton, all denied any wrong-doing.
Clive Rees, defending Radbourne, told the court: ‘It was certainly a badger sett and it was accepted that he had been the one who was up to his waist in it and he took full responsibility for that.
‘But it was out of concern for the terrier.
‘Mr Radbourne accepted his responsibility from the beginning. Seeing it was an active badger set made him even more concerned about Jimmy.’
Janet Gedrych, for Mr Pethers, said her client had accepted that it was ‘reckless’ to let Jimmy free.
‘It was clear that Jimmy had escaped and it was reckless to allow the dog out of the cage before fully investigating,’ he said.
‘He accepts that he was digging in an effort to find his dog, he didn’t intentionally set out to damage the sett but he acted recklessly to find his lost dog.’
Stuart Radbourne pictured arriving at court
District Judge Cooper told the pair: ‘In my mind the main aspect of this case was a failure to control Jimmy.
‘Reliable or not, he should have been kept in his box. He got out and disappeared down the sett.
‘Why he did it is speculation, but that he should have been allowed to do it was wrong. You are both responsible and you both could have prevented it.’
The RSPCA inspector who compiled the case against the five men said he would have been ‘heavily criticised’ if he had walked away from prosecution.
Inspector Ian Burns said: ‘There was severe damage to that badger sett and with all the money it has cost I would have been heavily criticised if I had walked away and left it.
‘I have had 25 years’ experience as a wildlife officer and I have dealt with numerous badger cases and that is the biggest, deepest, hole that I have seen dug.’
A spokesman for the RSPCA added: ‘The RSPCA received a call that a group of men had been seen on and around a badger sett in Stockley Hollow at the time that the Avon Vale was riding in the vicinity.
‘On examining the area, RSPCA inspector Ian Burns found that a large hole had been dug directly down into the active badger sett, breaking a tunnel and entrances had been blocked up.
‘A small Patterdale terrier emerged from the sett, muddy, dazed and bleeding badly from his jaw. He was fitted with an underground location collar.
‘The dog, which belonged to Pethers, was taken to a vet who found his injuries were consistent with having been attacked by the claws and teeth of an animal whilst underground.
‘The defendants gave conflicting accounts at the scene including chasing foxes, rabbits and searching for a lost dog.’
The badger sett where the men were spotted was in Stockley Hollow, near Calne, Wiltshire.
Sentencing | each ordered to pay a £300 fine, £250 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Three members of the Avon Vale Hunt have been arrested on suspicion of wildlife offences after a video emerged online appearing to show people pulling a fox out of a den.
According to various hunt saboteur groups, Stuart Radbourne is one of the three, alongside whipper-in Aaron Fookes. The identity of the third man has not yet been confirmed.
Aaron Fookes (left) with Stuart Radbourne
The clip shows one fox being pulled out of its den before another jumps out from underground.
Cheers and laughter are then heard as the hounds apparently pursue the foxes.
The British Hounds Sports Association (BHSA) immediately suspended Avon Vale Hunt from its organisation pending an investigation and has summoned the joint masters, acting chairman and kennel huntsman to BHSA headquarters to explain themselves.
In a statement, the BHSA said: “The panel found that on the balance of probabilities the evidence revealed serious breaches of the core principles and rules of the BHSA.”
It said the panel “were minded to permanently to expel the hunt and its masters, huntsman and kennel huntsman from membership of the BHSA.
“This would mean that in all probability the Hunt would no longer be able to function.”
The Wiltshire hunt has 14 days to respond to the findings.
CONVICTED (2012) | Meynell and South Staffordshire hunt master John Edward Greenall, born July 1960 of Wootton Hall Estate, Wootton, Ellastone, Ashbourne DE6 2GW, and hunt field member Glen Morris, born c. 1969, of Ludgate Street, Tutbury, Burton-on-Trent DE13 9NG – illegally hunted fox cubs with hounds.
Johnny Greenall (right) and Glen Morris pictured outside court
Greenall, son of the Baron of Daresbury, and hunt employee Morris were secretly filmed by anti-hunt protesters trying to kill foxes near Hilton in Staffordshire.
Both men denied breaching the Hunting Act but were both convicted.
Footage played in court showed members of the Meynell and South Staffordshire Hunt surrounding a wood at Suffield Farm in Sutton on the Hill in October 2011.
The hounds entered the wood to hunt young foxes in a sport known as ‘cubbing’.
One fleeing fox was scared back into the wood by the surrounding huntsmen who were clapping their hands.
Hunting foxes with dogs was made illegal in the 2004 Hunting Act.
Summing up, the judge said: “The evidence that Greenall was the hunt master is not in dispute nor is the fact that he was there that day.
“Greenall gave an innocent explanation as to why he was there in his police interview. But he has chosen not to give evidence in front of me.
“This is because the evidence would not stand up to any scrutiny.”
Tim Bonner, from the Countryside Alliance, was disappointed with the ruling. He said: “I am surprised at the verdict when there is no evidence in which foxes are shown to be pursued, let alone being caught by the hounds.”
Steve Harris, head of enforcement at The League Against Cruel Sports, said: “We are very pleased that Derbyshire Police thoroughly investigated this case and that the Crown Prosecution Service were willing to allow a court to decide on who was telling the truth.”
Sentencing | Greenall was fined £3,515 and Morris was ordered to pay £515.
The not so honourable Johnny Greenall stepped down from his role as chairman of The Meynell & South Staffordshire Hunt, citing the court case as his reason.
CONVICTED (2011) | wildlife persecutors Mark Anthony Tiffin, born 2 September 1990, of 79 Downland Crescent, Knottingley WF11 0EJ, Ben Scott Lloyd Galsworthy, born 26 February 1978, of 1 Derwent Place, Knottingley WF11 0NL and Neil Burlingham, born c. 1975, of Clifford in Wetherby – caught hunting with dogs.
Mark Tiffen (left) and Ben Galsworthy
The trio, who were represented by Clive Rees, were found guilty of hunting a wild mammal with a dog but walked free from court with a conditional discharge.
All three men were arrested in Gateforth, Selby, in January 2010 after members of Selby Badger Watch reported seeing three men with dogs and shovels close to a badger sett which they were monitoring. The men denied they were hunting a wild mammal with a dog.
Tiffin told the court he had travelled with the other two men to look for rabbits, then to Hambleton Hough to “get rats out of mounds of muck”, before one of the dogs had run away.
The judge told the men that their stories were inconsistent whilst witnesses for the prosecution were credible and concise.
Tiffin, who at the time of his conviction was serving a 12-month prison sentence for causing death by dangerous driving, received a two-year conditional discharge.
Galsworthy and Burlingham also received two-year conditional discharges, and were ordered to pay costs of £500 each.
The two dogs, which had been examined by a vet at a cost of £2,092 were confiscated by the police but were later taken from the kennels by persons unknown.
Mark Tiffin was due to appear at Selby Magistrates Court on 24th March 2011 charged with being present at an animal fight. It is alleged that Tiffin used his mobile phone to record images of the animal fight and he faces a number of charges relating to this incident. Unfortunately no further details are available
Source: York Anti-Hunt League
Tiffin reportedly works as a ‘terrierman’ with the combined York and Ainsty South/Badsworth & Bramham Moor Hunt. Members of the York Anti-Hunt League took photographs of Tiffin, whose official role is to mend fences and open gates, during a “cubbing” meet.
Source: York Anti-Hunt League
He was pictured on a quad bike with spades clearly visible on the front of the vehicle. One disturbing image captured Tiffin literally with blood on his hands.
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.
