OPINION: Philip Seccombe not fit for role as Police and Crime Commissioner

Warwickshire PCC has extensive ties with fox hunting

Warwickshire's Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Seccombe, is once more running as a candidate in the May 2nd PCC election. Protect the Wild takes a closer look at his extensive links to hunting - including to his friends in the Warwickshire Hunt - and argues that someone with such an obvious conflict of interest is not fit to stand for a role that is meant 'to be the voice of the people and hold the police to account'.

Seccombe has already been elected as Warwickshire's PCC for two terms. Despite this, there has been much public concern about this pro-fox hunting man, who - among other roles as PCC - must set police objectives and hold the Chief Constable to account. Campaigners argue that Seccombe is abusing his power as PCC, protecting his friends in the Warwickshire Hunt as they tear up foxes.

As a young man, Seccombe attended the Royal Agricultural College - notorious for training its youths to hunt wild animals. And much like other men influential within the hunting industry, he previously worked in the military - reaching the rank of Colonel in the Territorial Army.

The hunting lobby is very aware that getting pro-hunting people into PCC positions across England and Wales ensures that foxes can be slaughtered with little police intervention. This was revealed when minutes from a 2020 Master of Foxhounds Association meeting were leaked. In the meeting, the chair stated that pro-hunting lobbying Vote-OK must stay afloat with £18,000 worth of donations to “help with next year’s PCC elections”. Vote-OK exists entirely to get pro-hunting people into positions of power.

Seccombe himself is a member of the pro-hunting lobby group the Countryside Alliance (CA), which works to overturn the Hunting Act. Despite this, he continually denies that he has any influence over the policing of hunting in his area. Hunt saboteurs and campaigners disagree, arguing that Seccombe's links to the Warwickshire Hunt have had huge impact on the way it is policed. The PCC was recently forced to apologise for leaving a ‘laughing emoji’ on a West Midlands Hunt Sabs Facebook post.

The Warwickshire Hunt

In our recent comprehensive analysis of the hunting industry, Hunting: A Case for Change, we found that the Warwickshire Hunt is one of the most prolific packs in the country, continually breaking the Hunting Act 2004.

In the 2022/23 season, 22.3% of the Warwickshire Hunt’s meets resulted in some sort of chase or kill of a fox. And these were only the fox chases that were witnessed and recorded online by hunt saboteurs on the ground, so the figure is likely higher.

Philip Seccombe (right) reminds himself what some of his key roles should be as PCC

The secret protocol

Protect the Wild has written a number of times about the mysterious withdrawal of the Warwickshire Hunt's Community Protection Notice (CPN), a legal measure designed to stop ‘a business or organisation from committing antisocial behaviour which spoils the community’s quality of life'.

The hunt was issued a CPN by Warwickshire Police in December 2022 for causing road chaos. The force said on Facebook "We’ve issued this because we gave Warwickshire Hunt a warning notice in May 2022 about antisocial use of the county road network. We continue to see unreasonable and dangerous use of the roads."

The decision to restrict the hunt was widely welcomed, but fast-forward to August 2023 and Warwickshire Police backtracked, having negotiated with the hunt to come to a “sensible working arrangement”. The police didn't expand upon what this private protocol was, but did state that said protocol has been proposed by the hunt itself.

Despite pressure from local MP Matt Western - who is demanding that the secret protocol is made public - no one outside of Warwickshire Police, Warwickshire Hunt, and likely PCC Seccombe, has seen it.

When questioned by hunt saboteurs about whether he had anything to do with the CPN being overturned, Seccombe said:

“Well, the notice was served, it was discussed with lawyers, everything else, and an agreement has been reached… It’s a protocol… It’s not a public document as far as I know… It’s an agreement between a private lawful activity [sic] and the police.”

Seemingly very keen to keep the protocol out of the public eye, Seccombe stated that it can remain secret under Section 32 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which relates to court records. Section 32 essentially says that there is no right of access under the FOI Act to information contained in court records as it gives an absolute exemption from disclosure of such information.

West Midlands Sabs pointed out:

“In our opinion if the CA had any involvement in helping the Warwickshire Hunt getting the CPN dropped then the Police and Crime Commissioner who is a member of the CA certainly has some questions to answer over his position and whether there is a conflict of interest.”

• EDIT 05/03/24: An extensive and hard-hitting piece by Alex Thomson and Jackie Long on Channel 4 News last night dissected the thoroughly unpleasant Warwickshire Hunt. It discussed the ‘secret protocol’, and featured interviews with the West Mids Hunt Sabs, Lizzie Sinden (an airily scornful senior Warwickshire Hunt master, who appeared utterly detached from reality). and Chief Superintendent Matt Longman, the Police Lead on Fox Hunting. NB there is graphic footage of a fox kill. https://www.channel4.com/news/fox-hunting-group-avoid-court-with-secret-police-deal

Road safety

As PCC, Seccombe's office states that the man has "a particular interest in Road Safety". He is even Chair of the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership. Seccombe says:

"As Chair of the Partnership, my ambition is for Warwickshire to really lead the way nationally on road safety. All partners share that determination to find new ways of ensuring that our county is as safe as it can be for all road users and pedestrians."

It takes some nerve for Seccombe to preach road safety while his friends in the police and the Warwickshire Hunt have negotiated a secret protocol - which they won't divulge to the public - on exactly that issue.

On top of this, his wife Isobel is head of Warwickshire County Council - so she too has a responsibility for road safety in the county. Yet the PCC's friends in the Warwickshire Hunt continue to cause road chaos, and have become even more emboldened since the police withdrew the CPN against them.

West Midlands Sabs have documented a number of recent occasions where the police refuse to act, even when foxes are being hunted under their noses. The sabs wrote of the hunt's meet on 11 November 2023:

"Despite illegal hunting and numerous foxes hunted, hounds causing havoc on the roads, assaults on sabs, Warwickshire Police had the audacity to tell us to leave the area. This would have allowed the Warwickshire Hunt to carry on and break the law as much as they wanted. We weren’t going to let that happen so refused the police request to leave and ended up filming even more illegal hunting. What this has done is further damage trust in Warwickshire Police’s ability to deal fairly with the issue of illegal hunting."

And a month later, on 11 December 2023:

"After meeting at Longbourn Barn, not far from the hunt kennels, convicted huntsman Goffe took the hounds to hunt along the dismantled railway at the back of the kennels across to Butlers Marston. The hounds soon picked up the scent of a fox and headed to the village before spewing out all over the road in front of an oncoming car. Another fine example of that far wider reaching protocol inaction once again. With the hounds running through people gardens and out onto a blind bend / hill section of the road it was clear that the fox had crossed the road at this point."

Warwickshire Police and Crime Panel meetings

Along with wildlife defender Mikkeycee, we have taken a look at the minutes of the Warwickshire Police and Crime Panel's meetings. The committee's role is "to review and scrutinise the decisions and actions of the Police and Crime Commissioner." As their minutes show, Warwickshire Council is well aware of the illegal activities of the Warwickshire Hunt, having received a number of complaints. On 5 February the panel's Chair, Andy Davis, stated that "the Panel had received several expressions of concern relating to the activities of the Warwickshire Hunt... It continued to be an area of concern to the Panel."

During the panel's meeting on 22 November 2023, Dr Denise Taylor and Ms Martina Irwin were invited to put their questions to Seccombe. The panel's minutes read:

"Dr Taylor stated that, since mid-August 2023, evidence had been submitted by hunt monitors, wildlife groups, and others showing that Warwickshire Hunt continued to act unlawfully by disrupting traffic and trespassing on gardens and private land. She stated that trackers had been unlawfully placed on hunt monitors’ vehicles with one female monitor being actively and illegally stalked."

The minutes continued:

"Dr Taylor stated that Warwickshire Hunt continued to act with impunity. This suggested that the private arrangement between the Force and Warwickshire Hunt was ineffective."

As usual, PCC Seccombe washed his hands of any responsibility in policing the hunt:

"the Commissioner emphasised that his role did not encompass operational control of the police force. He advised that he had not been involved in decision-making for the issuing of the CPN on Warwickshire Hunt, or its subsequent withdrawal. He stated that the protocol between the Force and Warwickshire Hunt remained exempt from publication under Section 32 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000."

Seccombe said that he had raised the issue of the policing of the Warwickshire Hunt with the Chief Constable of Warwickshire Police, and was "satisfied with the responses". Seccombe was asked if he would "care to share those answers", to which he replied, "no".

Councillor Jim Sinnott pushed back, saying:

"If residents have got a real issue, they're not getting their answers, where does that leave us?... I was elected to represent my residents, so was the Commissioner. I'm just asking about the openness about the answers. I can see this coming back again and not going away. So I would like a resolution. This protocol seems to be at the centre of it. And if we can have a bit more openness and maybe help resolve concerns, that would be good."

Seccombe didn't respond to this, and the council moved on before Sinnott's concerns were addressed.

Facebook friends

We again teamed up with wildlife defender Mikkeycee to look at Seccombe's numerous social media friends connected to the Warwickshire Hunt.

His list of friends linked to hunting is extensive, and include:

• Barbara Hester: horse owner, hunter and ex-director and ex-master of the Warwickshire Hunt. She took that role for almost twenty years, from 2004 to 2023. She says of herself:

" I’ve likely owned 25-plus [horses] that I’ve hunted... I was an investment banker, now retired, and was Master of Foxhounds for 15 seasons."

• John and Chris Rutter: John is an active director of the Warwickshire Hunt, having been appointed in the role since 2011. His son, Chris, posts numerous hunting and shooting photos of himself onto his Facebook account. As PCC, Seccombe claims that he has a particular interest in road safety.  Yet West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs recently wrote of his friend Chris Rutter:

"Warwickshire Hunt director’s son Chris Rutter was driving about on an overloaded, uninsured quadbike with no visible license plates."

• The Deakin/Tutcher families: Lynne Deakin was another director of the Warwickshire hunt between 2011 and 2018. Deakin is an avid hunter, and was also a master of the hunt. Lynne was married to ex-Warwickshire huntsman William Deakin. Back in 2018 she wrote of her hunting 'career':

"I have spent the past six seasons as a joint master of the Warwickshire Hunt. Before that, I had worn many different ‘hats’ within the Warwickshire since moving here from the Holderness 27 years ago with my now ex-husband William Deakin and twin daughters, Stella and Bessie."

Seccombe is also social media friends with William Deakin's current wife, Sue Deakin. In her Facebook profile photo, Sue and William are posing with her daughter Poppy Tutcher as she sits on her horse in hunting attire as the first woman to become huntsman for the Belvoir Hunt. Meanwhile, Seccombe is also social media friends with Poppy's sister, hunter Tilly Tutcher. The CA said of William when he retired as huntsman after 22 seasons:

"Since the ban he has never faltered from doing his job with 100% commitment despite the risk of prosecution and a criminal record, emphasising his loyalty and love of hunting and a country way of life."

• Valerie Cockburn: Valerie is the wife of Warwickshire hunt master Kim Cockburn, who was also appointed director of the hunt in 2022.

• William Forsyth: William is a Warwickshire Hunt steward and the husband of current joint master and director Olivia Forsyth.

• Simon Jackson: Simon has been the secretary of the Warwickshire Hunt since 2003.

• Ted Taylor: He has been an active director of the hunt since 2008. Unsurprisingly, Taylor follows Seccombe's PCC election campaign on Facebook.

At the end of 2023, Seccombe's Facebook friend Daniel Maggs posted photos of highlights of his year, including this one. Photo via Facebook

Seccombe has a number of other hunting friends who like to post about their exploits, including:

• George Smith: Whipper-in of Puckeridge and Essex Union Hunt, Smith's Instagram tags include #bantheban and #keephunting. Hunt saboteurs have accused Smith of using his horse as a weapon.

• Daniel Maggs: Regularly posts photos of himself at hunting meets, and with foxhounds and quad bikes. He even posted photos of attending a Devon and Somerset Staghounds meet.

• Graham White: Seccombe's Facebook friend White likes to post various photos and videos of hunting. He is listed on a leaked database of the Warwickshire Hunt's subscribers. His social media photos include this gruesome image:

Graham White posts numerous pro-killing photos, including this one. Photo via Facebook

This list is by no means exhaustive. Seccombe's social media friends also include a number of other hunters who are linked to, and have posted videos and photos of the Warwickshire Hunt.

Vote Seccombe out

With all these links to fox hunting, our opinion is that Seccombe is not fit to stand for and/or work as PCC. If you live in Warwickshire and are as outraged by Seccombe's ties to the hunting industry as we are, you have the power to vote him out in May.

Action Against Foxhunting Midlands has produced Vote Seccombe Out hoodies and t-shirts, which you can buy here. The group has stated:

"For too long his corruption has tainted the Warwickshire police and has resulted in a major breakdown of trust. His personal affiliation to the Countryside Alliance and his love of fox hunting has meant that the Warwickshire Hunt have been able to terrorise local wildlife and residents, as they run wild, causing havoc on roads and intimidating the public.

On the 2nd May residents of Warwickshire will vote for who they want to be the Police & Crime Commissioner. This is our opportunity to relieve Seccombe of his role."

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