…..  4th June - Cheshire PCC to 'scrutinise' recent police decisions on fox kill cases

…..  3rd June - Yet another Cheshire fox hunt kill case dropped 

Davies was Master of the Banwen Miners Hunt in the Swansea Valley from 1993-99 before moving to the Golden Valley Hunt on the Welsh Border in 2000. In 2004, in the run up to the ban, he did not have the bottle to say he would personally defy the law, but told the BBC that some of his members would (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4026351.stm).Lee

Lee Moon, spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs Association, stated: “It's hard to think of a less useful member of society than an ex-hunt master, corrupt Tory MP. We hate to kick a man while he's down but we'll make an exception in this case. Davies is clearly a man who can't be trusted. Whilst Master of the Golden Valley Hunt he implicated himself in flouting the Hunting ban and now as a public servant he has deliberately falsified accounts to rip off the public purse. It’s testament to the low moral standards of the Conservative Party that they’ve re-selected him for the upcoming by-election and we wanted the Brecon and Radnorshire electorate to know the type of man they’re potentially voting for.

Out sett-checking again today in Glos zone 1... and hoping that we find no more destroyed setts. 2 found last year and 1 so far this year. Please continue to support us with information and paypal.me/threecountiessabs.

Jackson Stops’ incredible defence was that she did not hit Lara, claiming instead that Lara threw herself at the car in order to cause criminal damage to her vehicle! Yes, really!! She actually claimed Lara threw her body against her vehicle deliberately.

Some may think Jackson Stops was lucky not be facing more serious charges today.

In a statement read out at the inquest, presided over by senior coroner Ian Arrow at Plymouth Coroner's Court, Mrs Lewis explained how the pair had ridden horses together over the past five years and described her friend as an "experienced horsewoman".

On the day, Mrs Sandercock was wearing a bright pink fluorescent coat and a new riding helmet and both riders were on a horse each, but leading another, resulting in four horses on the road. Mrs Lewis explained she was a groom and looked after horses and dogs for the Lamerton Hunt. She said the pair intended to exercise the horses on the roads around the Lamerton Hunt kennels. She said it was a bright, cold and clear morning and the roads were dry and they road the horses at a walking pace, occasionally slow trotting.

They walked past Haynes Farm in single file on a two way road, with Mrs Lewis at the front and Mrs Sandercock at the rear. Mrs Lewis spotted a large lorry up ahead which she said "slowed right down" at spotting the horse riders. She said she raised her hand to thank the driver who continued past them slowly.

However, she said she "heard air-brakes from the lorry" and then heard horses hooves on the ground. One of the horses being led ran forwards onto a grass bank and as Mrs Sandercock tried to hold onto the rope, her own mount bucked and threw her off. The two horses cantered up the road and Mrs Lewis said that even her own horses "were spooked". The lorry continued up the road, the driver seemingly oblivious to what had happened.

Mrs Sandercock appeared to be in pain and very disorientated and Mrs Lewis called upon the help of farm workers from a nearby field. One chased after the spooked horses which were heading towards the A30 carriageway while the other call the emergency services. Sadly, within a few minutes, Mrs Lewis said her friend was no longer sitting upright and "stopped breathing".

Efforts were made to resuscitate her and an air ambulance attended the scene, taking her to Derriford Hospital. She received treatment for a severe head injury but sadly died the following day. A post mortem found Mrs Sandercock had suffered significant brain injuries and her cause of death was determined as traumatic acute subdural haemorrhage.

Police arrived at the scene and closed the main road between Sprytown Cross (Sprytown) and A30 (Stowford Cross, Broadwoodwidger), in both directions, for around three hours to investigate the incident.

As part of the inquiry the driver of the lorry was later traced and interviewed. He told police he recalled coming up the hill, seeing the horses and slowing down, which was recognised by one of the riders with a thank-you wave. He recalled passing the riders at a very slow speed before "carrying on as normal". It was accepted that he had no knowledge that anything had happened and police determined the driver had committed no offences and there were no faults with his Mercedes articulated lorry. The police investigation also examined Mrs Sandercock and found there was nothing wrong with her kit.

Lead investigator Sgt Nicholas Bloomfield told the inquest it was likely a noise emanated from the lorry at the moment it slowly passed Mrs Sandercock's mounts which had "sadly led to the horses being spooked and caused them to ride off down the road, throwing [her] from her horse." He told the inquest there was "no suggestion the driver did anything wrong".

Senior coroner Ian Arrow said the evidence presented led him to the conclusion that the death of Mrs Sandercock was "entirely accidental". He passed on his condolences to Mrs Sandercock's sister and brother who attended the hearing, noting how her death was "quite unusual and extremely sad".

In March 2014 we had met the South Herefordshire Hunt when the Cotswold Vale Farmers' Hunt held a joint meet with them. Earlier in the season the SHH were rumoured to have run riot in a field of sheep with hounds mauling and killing several of the ewes before being driven at by hunt staff and supporters in order to stop them.

2015 - New Year’s Day 2015... during the day, we called hounds off a fox who then escaped. Hounds went on to chase another fox into a badger sett at Caradoc [Major Patrick Darling’s (then Master) estate]. Sabs were there to pull hounds out and were promptly assaulted and thrown down a bank by hunt staff and supporters.

On 3rd January the Hunt met with the Carmarthenshire Hunt for a joint meet. A fox was dug out of a badger sett and hounds were encouraged on to that fox – when a sab went to investigate she was injured after being assaulted next to a barbed wire fence. Paul Reece (who recently pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal) was present in the group who assaulted her. Lance King was also present and since moved to the Ledbury Hunt as a terrierman. After the sab was assaulted, hounds were then came to the Hunt on 1st May as Huntsman [above right]. Just prior to his arrival one of our sabs was approached by a pro-hunt person in our area who said they had information about the Hunt. Initial information was minor with time being taken to build trust with the source as they wanted to ensure that we were not violent, wouldn't harass anyone and would keep their identity secret.

As the hunting season began after the summer, we obtained details of various hunt meets from this person (alongside information from other sources). As we have known some of the hunt supporters for many years due to living in the area, we often have brief conversations with them; we were watching hounds pass through a field of sheep during a meet when one supporter nudged us and said “don't worry, the ‘sheep problem’ is apparently being dealt with"... rumours are that this is when the hounds started to be ‘trained more intensely’ on killing foxes.

On 12th December the South Herefordshire Hunt had a joint meet with the Crawley and Horsham Hunt and Paul Oliver made a speech to welcome the visiting hunt with Paul Reece and Nathan Parry standing beside him. Having been tipped off about the meet from a source, we attended alongside friends from other sab groups. Hounds marked a fox to ground at a badger sett but sabs intervened and the Hunt moved off. The hounds went on to chase another fox down a drain and after a stand off between sabs and terriermen from both Hunts (including Paul Reece and Nathan Parry) the terriermen backed off.

Shortly afterwards our car was blocked and the quads rushed past. The hounds were clearly hunting – on entering the land Paul Reece was observed and filmed walking away from us [left], shoving a bag up his coat – other sabs saw a fox running away from the area and heard whistles being blown (used instead of holloas to signal a fox breaking cover). The fox had his head up and his fur was bristling, signs that he may not have known where he was – a suspected bagged fox released for the hounds to chase. They hunted until it was pitch black that day...

2016 - On 16th January at Kentchurch Estate the hounds were stopped from hunting by our sabs. Paul Oliver encouraged the hounds on past sabs and you can distinctly hear him holloaing on the footage. This holloa and encouragement is, in our opinion, the same as can be heard on the footage filmed by HIT as Paul takes cubs to the flesh house. When sabs intervened again he started to become aggressive but soon calmed down and gave up the chase.

On 12th February they had a children’s meet at Courtfield. No one was on point at the top of the covert being drawn and so there was no one from the Hunt to stop the pack as they chased two herds of deer around the area and terrified the sheep. One fox ran past a sab’ and another ran towards Courtfield itself - Paul Oliver hunted this fox and again you can hear him holloaing on the footage. He was challenged on the fact that hounds rioted and endangered the lives of the deer and sheep to which he replied that the sab’ was spinning a story.

As the 2015 - 16 season started to wind down the source who had been speaking with our sab told her that fox cubs were being obtained by the Hunt. There had been rumours of this happening before. Other information was put together regarding identities of those potentially involved, etc and the Hunt Investigation Team who had recently set themselves up, were fully briefed on the situation. Our initial information suggested that the cubs were being kept to release as bagged foxes at hunt meets, something we strongly believed was happening on many occasions, but what was filmed showed a different story.

Late spring saw the footage being obtained, the police being handed the evidence and the Hunt's kennels being raided – a supporter from another Hunt told us later that Paul Oliver was enjoying himself at the Ledbury Hunt ball when this happened and had to return to be arrested at Hereford police station.

Ledbury Hunt - We have been sabbing the Ledbury Hunt for many years and in the 2017 - 18 and 2018 – 19 seasons they have had what is described as a ‘marriage’ with what is left of the South Herefordshire Hunt. When the activities of the South Herefordshire were initially published in the media, the Ledbury Hunt were the only hunt we know of to publicly speak out against the “alleged activities" by sending out letters to their supporters explaining their stance. As the South Herefordshire were suspended from hunting by the MFHA (Masters of Fox Hounds Association) and the kennels were closed, the Ledbury were brought in to hunt their country. The former masters of the SHH are often out riding with them.

The Ledbury Hunt do not follow a trail and later this week we will post specifically about what they have been up to. It is rumoured that what is left of the SHH pack of hounds are at the Ledbury kennels now. As hounds are innocent victims of the hunt, it was sad to hear of Paul Oliver’s breeding programme which meant that there were four litters of puppies on site when the hunt were suspended. The bitch who Paul Oliver claimed had picked up the fox cubs after he had killed them had 11 puppies. Hannah Rose described hand-rearing three other puppies and there were two more litters on site. Where are they all now? What was their fate?

Prior to trial 2016 – 2019 - It took three years for the defendants to be brought to trial. Some of this time was understandably taken up putting together evidence, obtaining statements from sabs, HIT operatives and the defendants themselves and getting the case ready for court. The rest of the time was taken up by West Mercia Police investigating one of their own officers based on two separate malicious allegations (by an anonymous farmer, according to the media) being that a police officer involved in the investigation was having relationships with those involved in anti hunt activity . No claim was found to have any standing but it had stalled the investigation into the killing of the cubs by about two years, as well as impacting horrendously on all those involved...

Hunt saboteur, Karl Garside, told the court he had helped to place covert cameras at the kennels in South Herefordshire in 2016. He also said a tracker had been attached to Mr Parry's vehicle. It showed that the terrierman's vehicle was near the Mynde estate in Herefordshire the morning of 14 May 2016, then at the hunt's kennels a few hours later, the witness said.

Mr Garside said he attended the first site, where foxes were allegedly dug out, to discover that the "earth had been freshly disturbed and levelled". He later visited the Hunt's premises and filmed a fox cub being held in a cage.

Tracker data presented in court allegedly showed the vehicle leaving the second site in Pencoyd, Herefordshire, the following day, before arriving at the kennels about ten minutes later.

Covert video footage was played to the judge apparently showing Mr Oliver gripping a live cub by the neck and a dead animal being dumped in a bin.

Mr Parry [right, credit Press Association], of Brynarw estate near Abergavenny, south Wales, denies four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal as do Mr Oliver, 40, and Ms Rose, 30, both of Sutton Crosses, near Spalding, Lincolnshire.

Two other defendants pleaded guilty to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to fox cubs on dates in May 2016. The trial continues.

31-5-19  Metro     Hidden camera ‘caught huntsman feeding live fox cubs to dogs’    An animal rights investigator allegedly caught the moment a Hunt’s master fed live fox cubs to his dogs. Paul Oliver, 40, is accused of throwing the animals to his hounds before the two foxes were later found dead in a wheelie bin. He denies charges.

On Friday Birmingham Magistrates Court was played the covert recordings, after anti-hunt activists installed the hidden cameras at South Herefordshire Hunt kennels on May 16, 2016. Three people have gone on trial accused of animal cruelty charges after the covert footage came to light. The video is believed to have shown a man carrying a fox cub into the kennels as hounds can be heard barking. Minutes later the man comes out of the kennel and dumps the dead animal into a bin before spraying it with a liquid. The footage showed the man carrying a live fox to the kennels. Its dead body was seen thrown into a wheelie bin.

Oliver, kennel maid Hannah Rose, 30, and terrierman Nathan Parry, 40, deny four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal. Julie Elmore, 55, of Abergavenny, Wales, and Paul Reece, 48, from Itton, Wales, have admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

The court heard how an animal rights investigator, Karl Garside, captured the incident after placing a magnetic tracker on Parry’s Land Rover. He said the cameras were installed near white trailers on site of SHH Kennels, where he also found a fox cub in a cage. Mr Garside pointed out that fox hunting was banned in 2005, so he installed the camera to establish why the fox cub was in there.

He said footage showed a man in a cap putting the dead fox into a bin [below], before he is seen taking another fox cub into the kennel. Mr Garside added: ‘He is then seen spraying something onto the foxes in the bin, we went the to site later and saw the fox cubs in the bin, they looked blue.’

A rural practitioner told the court he believed the foxes may have been killed by being battered with a hammer before being given to the dogs. The defence witness, who was only referred to as Dr Lomax, said: ‘We know that injuries to the head and chest occurred about a minute of each other. ‘One would assume that the blow to the head would’ve been first.’ He added: ‘In my opinion the chest injuries to the fox cubs were caused by one big dog. ‘The crushing injuries to the chest could also have caused instantaneous death. Fox cub bones are soft, the jaws of large dog would crush the heart. I’m not saying that is what happened, but it is possible.’

The trial, which is due to last a week, will resume on Monday.

31-5-19  Lincolnshire Live   Court told covert mission 'caught hunt members cruelty to fox cubs'   Covert video footage which allegedly shows a Hunt's Master of Hounds grabbing a fox cub by the scruff of the neck has been shown to a jury in court.

Master of Hounds Paul Oliver and kennel maid Hannah Rose [both below, Credit Press Association], both of Sutton Crosses, near Spalding, have each denied four charges of animal cruelty after live fox cubs were allegedly thrown to the hounds at the South Herefordshire Hunt's kennels in 2016.

Hunt saboteurs set up covert cameras to film at the Hunt’s kennels allegedly showed Oliver carrying fox cubs at the kennels. One of the clips also seemed to show a live cub being gripped by the scruff of the neck and another appeared to show a dead animal being dumped in a waste bin.

Anti-bloodsport investigator Karl Garside, who gave evidence from behind a screen which shielded his face from the public gallery and the jury, said that he was able to attach a magnetic tracking device to a Land Rover linked to the kennels in a bid to investigate into the hunt's practices.

The Land Rover belonged to terrierman Nathan Parry, who is also on trial and has denied four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. The tracker showed the Land Rover had been to land in Pencoyd, Herefordshire, where a fox was allegedly dug out of its den.

Mr Garside told the court he went to the site and found "a rural location, a wooded area backing on to fields." He added: "At the location that the tracker indicated, we found an old badger sett with four of five entrances. We knew foxes inhabited it because we could smell them and we found (poultry and pheasant) carcasses scattered around. "There was a small area on top of the sett where the earth had been freshly disturbed and levelled."

Mr Garside said then tracker showed had arrived at the kennels 10 minutes after it left the site of the badger setts. He said he then filmed footage of Oliver carrying the fox cubs inside. The footage was shown to the judge during court proceedings today, Friday, May 31. The hunt saboteur then visited the Hunt’s premises and filmed a cub being held in a cage, the court heard.

During cross-examination, Mr Garside said HIT had "special friends with special skills" but declined to name an organisation that had helped its members with specialist training.

Two other defendants have pleaded guilty to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to fox cubs on dates in May 2016. The trial continues.

“Oliver and Rose were employed by the South Herefordshire Hunt, based at Wormelow, as master of hounds, and a kennel maid or groom. Mr Parry was not employed there but was known locally as a terrierman. Reece was a terrierman and an associate of Parry.”

The court was told a hidden camera was placed at the kennels by the Hunt Investigation Team (HIT) after they received information that animal welfare legislation had been breached. As part of the HIT inquiry, two sites were identified where foxes were thought to have been “dug out” and police inquiries established that gamekeepers had given permission for the animals to be destroyed on the land.

But prosecutors claim fox cubs were killed by hounds at the kennels, where hidden cameras caught them being moved around, before two were found dead in a wheelie bin. Mr Davis alleged that the camera provided “significant” evidence against Oliver, including footage which he claimed showed him lifting fox cubs out of a cage and entering the kennels. A stick with a noose attached, known as a grasper, is also said to have been used during the alleged cruelty.

Parry, 40, also of Brynarw estate, denies four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

At the start of the hearing, lawyers acting for the defendants standing trial made brief submissions to the district judge trying the case. Sara-Lise Howe, for Rose, said: “She was not involved in any hunting activity. She was not involved and did not cause the death of the foxes. She simply didn’t know about it.”

Clive Rees, representing Oliver, submitted that there was no evidence whatsoever to show that he killed two of the foxes which are the subject of the charges. The court heard that Oliver claimed he had relocated fox cubs ahead of a Defra inspection, killing them with an axe blow to the head, and had never fed any animals to his hounds.

Veterinary surgeon David Martin was the first witness in the case, telling the court one cub had no sign of any head injury, while another had a “blunt trauma” injury to its head.

Pics below   -  1/   Imprisoned fox cub  2/ Cub about to be thrown to hounds in kennel  

The walk of shame back to the ECMH scruffy transit van was then a procession with sabs from Suffolk & Essex, Norwich, Cambridge, South Cambs and Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs as well as North Cambs making certain the hounds went nowhere except back in the van.

This is a pack that we have been warned by informants will kill with ease whatever they find in the river, in addition to the fact that they are illegally disturbing river habitats with their hunting dogs in flagrant contravention of the Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Once the hounds were packed away and had left the meet, we were happy to chalk this up as a job well done with the wildlife of the River Roding safe from the countryside terrorists for another day.

This is what direct action for animals looks like. Vegan events who distance themselves from hunt sabotage are missing the point and we stand in solidarity with Nottingham Hunt Saboteurs.

Professor Harris told The Telegraph that Ms Gilbert kissed him before he could stop her and claimed they had not seen each other for nearly two decades. He said: “She walked up to me in court, greeted me, and kissed me before I could stop her. I am not responsible for someone who I have not seen for so long kissing me.”

Mr Wills was acquitted of the charge of illegal hunting after using dogs to flush out a fox. He was cleared after the court heard that the plan had been to use a golden eagle to kill the fox once it had been flushed out. Using dogs to flush out wild mammals for a bird of prey to hunt is permitted under the Hunting Act 2004.

In delivering his verdict last week Judge Daber stated: “The plan had been agreed by the Master and the Huntsman the day before. Things didn't turn out as expected. Mr Wills is a man with good character. It is true the hounds were not brought under control quickly enough. However there is no offence of reckless hunting. I find Mr Wills not guilty of this charge."

Professor Harris, a former professor of environmental sciences at the University of Bristol, had been employed by the CPS to give evidence on behalf of the prosecution, despite earlier questions being raised over his independence.

In December 2015 a private prosecution brought by the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) against six members of the Lamerton Hunt collapsed after Professor Harris failed to inform the court about his friendship with Paul Tillsley, the LACS’s head of investigations, and his other connections to the group. The court heard he had written a book published by the LACS, appeared at its campaign events and had published an academic paper sponsored by the group.

Following Mr Wills’ acquittal the Countryside Alliance called on the CPS to abandon its use of Professor Harris as an expert witness. Tim Bonner, the chief executive of the alliance, said: “He cannot be regarded as an independent witness. I will be writing to the Attorney General about the involvement of Prof Harris in charging decisions, and about the CPS’s continued use of Prof Harris as an independent expert in trials involving Hunts.”

Professor Harris rejected the Countryside Alliance's claims, stating: "Tim Bonner represents a campaigning organisation and so has a partisan view, whereas I am an independent academic. For more than half a century, I have known and worked with people who support hunting and those who are anti-hunting. However, I base my opinions on the facts, not the preconceived objectives of others.”

A CPS spokesperson said: “We are aware of the judge’s comments and are looking into what happened in this case. The gathering of evidence and identification of witnesses is a matter for police and it is for the court to determine whether an expert’s evidence is admissible.”

A highly experienced hunt monitor and prosecution witness responds  -  The Hunting Act needs strengthening to make it easier to prosecute these people who continue to hunt our wildlife with impunity and consider themselves to be above the law.

The prosecution witness featured in the article, Judy Gilbert, who greeted Prof. Harris with a handshake and a brief kiss on the cheek, had been acquainted with Prof Harris for decades though only met him on a very few occasions at public events. There is no “close relationship.” as the defence would like you to believe.

Mick Wills’ defence team were trying to make something out of nothing and seized on their perceived opportunity to try to discredit Professor Harris, probably because they are scared of his professionalism and expertise in the witness box and were determined not to let him speak. 

When our witness greeted Stephen Harris, in a professional manner by shaking his hand, because she regards him as a very intelligent acquaintance of integrity with unparalleled knowledge of foxes, also a quick kiss on his cheek in a “warm” (to quote the defence lawyer) manner.

Naturally the defence are trying to make much of this claiming that Professor Harris could not be impartial. This is quite ridiculous as we're sure Tim Bonner, the CA and their defence council know full well. In our opinion they were simply trying to unfairly discredit Professor Harris to get their client acquitted.

Judge: “However unbiased he may be, this court must exclude Professor Harris’s evidence.”

Sadly the Grafton Hunt - and not just Mick Wills the Huntsman, but all of them including the Masters, the Whippers-In and the mounted field - will continue to hunt foxes and claim they are hunting within the law by using loopholes in the Hunting Act.

The Hunting Act urgently needs strengthening to remove these loopholes and make it vastly easier to prosecute these people who continue to hunt our wildlife with impunity and consider themselves to be above the law.  https://www.facebook.com/foxcubhunting/

23-5-19   Facebook - Grafton Hunt Watch   VIDEO  Judge Daber, in his summing up, before he acquitted the Huntsman: I don't believe a man like the Hunt Master would perjure himself! Presumably he considered that our decent and honest hunt monitors would, when he stated that he "preferred" the Hunt's version to that of our Monitor regarding the position of the Falconer.

                                        Fox flushed from wood runs from hounds 

                                                    Hounds and hunters chasing the fox 

                                                     Fox fleeing up the road 

                                                    Hounds searching for scent of fleeing fox 

An article, with video, about the incident in the Sunday People is here. It talks about Andrea Leadsom MP, a strong supporter of the Grafton FH. Leadsom resigned from the Cabinet in advance of a second attempt to become Tory Leader and Prime Minister.

This is the original report of the incident, in September 2017, and my comment on it and the video...

24-9-17  Facebook – Help Hunt Monitors   VIDEO    The Grafton Hunt Watch team were out yesterday at Helmdon, Northamptonshire, to film the Grafton hunting fox cubs. Anarchy in the countryside, but the authorities will do nothing about it!

POWAperson adds - Three monitors separately filmed a fox darting out of a copse past a group of hounds and running across a field. The hounds give chase, as do riders on the ridge above. The fox bursts through a small copse with hounds in hot pursuit and is then seen running up a road, then darting back into a copse. The Huntsman is heard blowing the hounds to hunt on. Hounds, with riders in the background, search the road verges. As the film clip ends, hounds are on the wrong side of the road. It is all absolutely clearly wilful fox hunting and if this is not enough to secure a prosecution it is hard to see what would be.

At the hearing on 4th April 2019 at Luton Magistrates Court, James Lea pleaded GUILTY to Criminal Damage. He received a Conditional Discharge for 6 months/ Court costs of £85/ Compensation to us £526.79. All of which keeps us ticking over and our vehicle taxed and MOT-ed.  Thanks James.

Pics below   -   1/  Lea rams sab vehicle    2/  Lea throws parts of damaged sab vehicle at sabs whilst threatening them 

23-5-19  Daily Mail    Saboteurs who tried to disrupt a hunt are filmed clashing with supporter after he rammed his 4x4 into their vehicle and unleashed foul-mouthed tirade - James Lea, 50, clashed with hunt saboteurs in Melchbourne, Bedfordshire - He rams his 4x4 into their vehicle and says 'Go on... try it with a f***ing gypsy' - Lea received a conditional discharge for six months, paid court costs of £105 and compensation to the hunt saboteurs of £562.79    A fox hunt supporter was filmed clashing with saboteurs after ramming his 4x4 into their vehicle and launching a foul-mouthed tirade. Footage shows James Lea, 50, driving his Mitsubishi Shogun into a Range Rover after activists try to disrupt a hunt in Melchbourne, Bedfordshire. Lea is then recorded on a saboteur's mobile phone calling one female protester 'a f***ing b****' during the incident on September 30, 2017.

Video of the incident emerged after Lea admitted criminal damage at Luton Magistrates Court on April 4 this year. The confrontation happened as the South Cambridge Hunt Saboteurs confronted supports of the Oakley Fox Hunt. The video shows Lea ramming the saboteurs with his car and then telling protestors; 'Go on then, try it with a f***ing gypsy.' Lea is also seen throwing parts of the smashed up Range Rover at the saboteurs.

The woman who filmed the video had been dropped off on a public footpath to search for the Oakley Hunt with their Range Rover parked on public property. Lea then pulled up behind the Range Rover, forcing the car forward and screamed out of his driver side window: 'F***ing w***ers.' 

Lea, who is believed to be a supporter, but not a member of the Oakley Hunt says to the only female protester: 'F*** off. Go on, f***ing try it with a f***ing gypsy. F*** off down there you f***ing b****.'

During the ordeal the saboteur group tell one another not to interact with the furious Lea, and continue to walk away from him while filming. Lea continued to threaten the group and threw broken car parts at them. He says: 'Go on, you f***ing b******. Do you want to f***ing try it or not? Do ya? Do you want to come over here on private property. Do you want to take it on, get in the f***ing car you c***.'

During the attack, a member of the South Cambridgeshire Hunt Saboteurs in the Range Rover called the police as the vehicle drove out of the private property and back onto the public road. The hunt saboteurs get back into their car and leave.

Lea received a conditional discharge for six months, paid court costs of £105 and compensation to the hunt saboteurs of £562.79.

After an initial protestation that they were 'hunting rabbits', they changed their story to 'dog walking' as soon as we pointed out that rabbits don't live in rivers.

Just like every other mink/otter hunt we have sabbed, they simply gathered up their hounds and terrier and walked back to their meet. An illegal hunting pack cannot continue when there are 21 sabs surrounding their hunt.

After a short farce where their hound van pretended to leave the meet, then drove back to the riverside, they gave in after realising they could not escape our gaze.

                                Some of the nasty men less than happy with sab attention 

Another criminal hunting pack sent home with their tails between their legs, thanks to a tip off from the public!

Hunt sabs protect wildlife as volunteers, funding their fuel and camera equipment personally. If you would like to help our cause, you can do so at: https://ko-fi.com/northcambs.

See also report by S.Wales Hunt Sabs 

17-11-19  BBC News    No further action in Cheshire fox death probe - Cheshire Police said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute     Police say there will be no further action over the death of a fox allegedly killed during a hunt. Footage appeared to show a dead fox being placed in a bin bag - the aftermath of a hunt in Cheshire in November, an anti-hunting group said...

A spokesperson for Cheshire Monitors, the anti-hunting group which said it filmed the footage, said "pitifully weak legislation" had undermined its efforts to seek prosecution.

18-5-19  Facebook - Cheshire Monitors  VIDEO   Here is the evidence - “No further action" - Cheshire Hounds Hunt evade prosecution yet again despite clear evidence of fox hunting   On Thursday 15th November 2018, a team of 10 monitors, including independents, witnessed the Cheshire Hounds Hunt trespassing into fields around Aston Gorse woodland near Church Minshull to hunt a fox for 15 minutes, resulting in its death...

We have been informed that the blatantly illegal activities shown in this video fail to meet the "evidential threshold" set by the Crown Prosecution Service when considering a prosecution under the Hunting Act 2004, legislation designed to stop the hunting of wild mammals with a pack of dogs, but which fails dismally to do so.

Cheshire Monitors, along with other groups, local MPs, and a number of advisors, are now working towards a real hunting ban, and we need your help. Please keep checking our page over the coming months on practical ways in which you can help. Demand a #RealHuntingBan

POWAperson adds  -  Cheshire Monitors report on the fox kill can be found here 

Pics below   -  1/   Hounds hunting fox while redcoat shouts 'Get on it!'     2/   Whipper-in clears up remains of killed fox   

See also Cheshire Live report and Metro

George Adams, 67, was found guilty of using hounds to kill a fox despite the scientist who gave the main evidence against him being accused of “bias”. Professor Stephen Harris was said to have “ambushed” Mr Adams’ appeal against conviction by producing documents relating to his rival expert evidence Dr Daryl Hamilton Wallace half way through the case.

Peter Glenser QC, defending, told the court it was the second time during a hunting trial that evidence had emerged relating to the retired professor’s links to the anti-hunting charity with which “he has had an association which goes back decades.” He told the judge that Mr Harris was “biased”, adding: “This all paints a picture of somebody who is antipathetic to those accused of hunting.”

The professor also gave key evidence to parliament in support of the hunting ban. One of the documents produced, Mr Glenser told the court, was a “subject profile said to be a restricted document from the League Against Cruel Sports”. The “intelligence file”, which included personal details including what was believed to be his home address, was created in 2015.

Prof Harris also sent prosecutor David Matthew a series of documents relating to Mr Hamilton Wallace that he found online, the judge was told. Mr Glenser said that he was concerned that Prof Harris’ evidence was the “principle evidence” in the trial along with videos shot on the day. In 2015 a private prosecution of the Lamerton Hunt collapsed after an email emerged detailing how the League’s head of enforcement had recommended the Bristol Professor as an expert. Prof Harris noted in the email, to a solicitor in another case, that it “fortunate” that was not the route by which police contacted him as if it had been it would have been “very damaging”.

Despite the questions over the independence of the expert, Judge Jonathan Cooper upheld the decision to find Mr Adam guilty and ordered him to pay £11,332 in costs, as well as a £1,000 fine.

Speaking directly to the allegations against Prof Harris, the judge told Cambridge Crown Court: “We heard that he was met with a file of material that was said to undermine his credibility. It was most unfortunate that that file was incomplete, because an explanatory document from a previous case had not been put before us. There was a prospect that the picture being painted may not have been as full as it should have been. That is a matter of regret.”

The appeal boiled down to the key findings made at Peterborough Magistrates court, and Judge Cooper said: “Whatever might have been the intentions, it degenerated into a simple matter of fact that it descended into hunting with dogs.”

Mr Adams, who joined the Fitzwilliam Hunt in 1981 and became a Huntsman in 1984, has always insisted that the hounds only killed the fox because it had been spooked by the sabs and turned back into the pack. But the judge rejected this claim, saying: “The dogs were not called off the chase of the fox at any relevant point. Mr Adams exerted no effective control.”

Falconer John Mease, who had been tried alongside Mr Adams at the Magistrates Court and cleared, said to his knowledge in 14 years of hunting with the Fitzwilliam that was the only time that a fox had been killed by the hounds. Normally the hounds flush the fox to cover and then he releases his eagle to kill the animal, he told the court, but he did not release his bird that day because of the “balaclava-d sabs”.