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.
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.
Additional Information
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
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.
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.
