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.
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.
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.
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.’
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.
Update 10 February 2023
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.
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.
Full report: ITV News
We Thank The One That Reported This Incident Whole Heartedly.
It is clear what they have been up to.
They will get what’s coming to them one way or another.
They won’t have no luck for what they have done.
At least now their faces are out there and everyone knows who they are.