Nails in hunting's coffin: 2024's guilty convictions
2024 saw numerous hunters in the dock, either for hunting-related offences, or for the violence they inflicted on hunt saboteurs and monitors. Protect the Wild takes a look at the year's convictions, and what this might mean for the future of hunting with dogs.
Despite there being a larger number of hunters or their supporters on trial in 2024, there's no denying that existing Hunting Act legislation is next to useless. The number of men who found themselves in the dock was miniscule compared to the hundreds of illegal incidents that were witnessed or caught on camera.
The Hunting Act was deliberately introduced twenty years ago with enough loopholes to ensure that convictions would be difficult to secure. Just getting a hunter to court is a massive victory in itself, which the new Labour government needs to take note of! However, despite all the obstacles in the way of getting a case over the prosecution threshold, hunting staff are STILL in the dock. Hunt saboteurs and monitors should be commended for their hard work in helping to secure convictions - after all, with police forces barely doing their own job of monitoring hunts, it is volunteers' footage and eye-witness accounts that are used in court.
Violence
The number of convictions for violence and harassment shows the desperate measures hunts are employing to prevent people from observing their illegalities.
2024 saw Blackmore and Sparkford Vale's Charlie Mayo being found guilty of assault after hospitalising a hunt saboteur.
Two Weston and Banwell Hunt terriermen were convicted of assault after beating a sab with a spade.
A Tynedale Hunt terrierman wa found guilty of assault with battery after he sprayed a hunt monitor in the face with citronella.
Marc Birney, a supporter of the Pytchley with Woodland Hunt, was convicted of assault by beating after launching a "cowardly attack" on a hunt sab.
Finally, David Fildes, a hired Cottesmore Hunt thug, pleaded guilty to multiple charges after weeks of violence against sabs.
And then there were racist and xenophobic attacks, too.
The Wynnstay Hunt's hired thug Anthony Williams was found guilty of racially abusing a sab.
And ex-South Dorset huntsman Josh Tierney was also convicted after homophobic and xenophobic harassment of a hunt monitor.
Illegal hunting
As we have stated, it is something of a miracle to get guilty verdicts for illegal hunting under the Hunting Act. And yet a judge convicted West Norfolk Foxhounds huntsman Edward “Mikey” Bell and whipper-in Andrew Egginton on two counts each of hunting a mammal with dogs. Some months later, the two appealed their convictions, but humiliated themselves when they failed miserably.
2024 also saw infamous hunter Ollie Finnegan standing trial yet again, having been granted a retrial after being convicted of illegal hunting in 2023 for offences when he was huntsman of the Cheshire Hunt. Much to Finnegan’s dismay, he was found guilty once more!
Finally, Neil Burton, huntsman of the Burton Hunt, was found guilty of illegal hunting after footage showed him using his horn to encourage the hounds after the fox.
Blocking badger setts
A terrierman from the Berwickshire and Fife Hunts was found guilty of two charges of digging and blocking the sett, while a Wynnstay Hunt terrierman pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett in Shropshire.
The Labour government should take note that the number of terriermen who found themselves in court in 2024 is a huge red flag. It indicates that hunts are routinely breaking the law - after all, if a hunt was following a trail, why would it need shovel-wielding men to dig out or block badger setts - or, indeed, commit assaults on those monitoring hunts?
'Stripping away their legitimacy'
Each guilty verdict will have the hunting industry running scared, especially since Labour promised to strengthen the Hunting Act. And the more convictions there are, the more that public and landowner support for the bloodsport wanes.
Protect the Wild's founder Rob Pownall said of 2024's convictions:
"Hunt-related convictions for illegal hunting and violence show that these activities often defy the law. Each guilty verdict adds to the growing case against hunts, stripping away their legitimacy and highlighting their harm to wildlife and society. Every passing day we see more nails hammered into the hunting coffin."
Channel 4 News has been adding some final nails into that coffin with its coverage of fox hunting. Its broadcasting of footage of illegal hunting, such as that of the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale, caused nationwide outrage in 2024, as well as a heightened public awareness of the horrors that take place in the countryside.
Finally, this year saw numerous hunts being issued with either Community Protection Warnings or Community Protection Notices by police forces around the country - yet another blow to the hunting industry. These warnings for antisocial behaviour show the Labour government that hunts are not willing or able to control their hounds, despite having had two decades to do so.
The long list of convictions
Here is the full of 2024's convictions in chronological order with links to our posts on the incidents:
April:
Blackmore and Sparkford Vale (BSV) Hunt member Charlie Mayo, son of hunt master Anthony Mayo, was found guilty of assaulting a hunt saboteur and causing actual bodily harm (ABH). The saboteur was so badly injured that he was hospitalised.
June:
Robert Cundy, terrierman for the Essex and Suffolk Hunt, pleaded guilty to breaking a Community Protection Notice (CPN). A CPN can be issued by a court as punishment for persistent antisocial behaviour, and was issued because Cundy targeted hunt monitors on his quad bike.
July:
Anthony Williams, a thug hired by the Wynnstay Hunt, pleading guilty after racially abusing a hunt saboteur, which is a hate crime.
A district judge found two men from the West Norfolk Foxhounds guilty of illegal hunting. A judge convicted huntsman Edward “Mikey” Bell and whipper-in Andrew Egginton on two counts each of offences under Section 1 of the Hunting Act.
Ex-South Dorset huntsman Josh Tierney was convicted of racially/religiously aggravated harassment following a homophobic and xenophobic incident against a member of Weymouth Animal Rights.
August:
Weston and Banwell terriermen Ian Dinham and Brian (Anthony) Pearce were convicted of assault after they beat a hunt saboteur with a spade.
Notorious fox hunter Ollie Finnegan stood trial yet again, having been granted a retrial after being convicted of illegal hunting in 2023 for offences when he was huntsman of the Cheshire Hunt. Finnegan and his defence team failed, and he was found guilty yet again.
A terrierman from the Tynedale Hunt was convicted of assault with battery after he sprayed a hunt monitor in the face with citronella.
September:
Marc Birney, a supporter of the Pytchley with Woodland Hunt, was convicted of assault by beating after he attacked a North London Hunt Saboteur.
Dylan Boyle from the Berwickshire and Fife Hunts was found guilty of two charges of digging and blocking the sett.
October:
The two West Norfolk Foxhounds men - who appeared in court in July - were back in the dock, this time to appeal their hunting convictions. To their dismay, their attempt at overturning their guilty verdicts backfired, and their convictions were upheld.
Neil Burton, huntsman of the Burton Hunt, was found guilty of hunting a wild mammal with dogs. This conviction is the first of its kind in Lincolnshire. The prosecution barrister argued in court: “You were not making attempts to call them back. You were attempting to excite them.”
November:
Wynnstay Hunt terrierman Ryan Brennan pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett in Shropshire. Blocking badger setts is illegal under the Protection of Badgers Act.
David Fildes, a hired Cottesmore Hunt thug who made life hell for hunt saboteurs, pleaded guilty in court. He faced multiple charges after weeks of violence against sabs earlier in 2024.
A Proper Ban on Hunting
We will hear again and again over the next few weeks - a critical period for hunting - that the number of convictions shows that the vast majority of hunts are law-abiding. This is simply not true. Hunts and hunt staff are routinely breaking the law - from illegal hunting and committing traffic offences to harassing and assaulting sabs and monitors. As we said above, because of the loopholes and exemptions in the Hunting Act, inaction by many police forces, and the very high evidence bar needed to convict, many recorded incidents never even reach the courts.
Enforcement, though, is one thing - the best way to ensure hunts aren't breaking the law any more is to ban them.
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