Last month brought the birth of a new body into the myriad of hunting and hound organisations in the UK. The British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) was unveiled by the The Hunting Office alongside an announcement that the Master of Foxhounds Association and the long-winded Association of Masters of Harriers and Beagles would both be “stepping back from the governance of hunting” and focusing on hound breeding, stud books and other activities instead.
On the 29th of June the BHSA trumpeted that it’s now responsible for “setting the standards and rules to which all members and recognised hunts must adhere and will focus on standards, viability and sustainability”. A new and separate regulatory body (for which please read “self-regulatory” and therefore self-serving) – the Hound Sports Regulatory Authority (HSRA) – has come into existence and will oversee the implementation of regulations and deal with all disciplinary matters for members and member hunts, in accordance with BHSA rules. William, Viscount Astor, Chairman of the BHSA, will “steer the team through a period of development; working to improve accountability, transparency and confidence in hunting activities and increase recognition of the immeasurable contribution hunts play in the countryside”. View Halloo.
What does this all mean? Broadly nothing. The BHSA and HSRA have evolved to convince the public that hunts aren’t chasing foxes, that trail-hunting is genuinely a wildlife-friendly sport undertaken by genuine conservationist types and that landowners like the National Trust, Forestry England and the Lake District National Parks Authority – each of which has stopped issuing new licenses to hunt on its land – have nothing to fear because the BHSA will get jolly cross with anyone who breaks the law.
I’m looking forward greatly to seeing what punishments, admonishments and other actions are taken against the following, all of whom are facing criminal trials or have been convicted of breaches of the Hunting Act 2004 and/or the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 and/or varying degrees of common assault. Will they be banned from all hunting and kennel activities? Will the hunts they rode with face censure for condoning their behaviour? Will their criminal activities be publicly denounced by the BSHA or HSRA?
Here’s the (current) roll call of 2022 hunting miscreants. And it’s only the first week of July.
John Holiday, previously of the Belvoir Hunt, has been charged with hunting a wild mammal with a dog on 15th January 2022. He is due to appear in Leicester Magistrates Court on Friday 15th July 2022.
Chris Mardles of the Quorn Hunt and previously from the Pytchley and Woodland Hunt, appeared at Northampton Magistrates Court on 29th June 2022 charged with Grievous Bodily Harm towards a member of the public in Market Harborough. Now on unconditional bail he will be tried at Nottingham Crown Court during the week commencing 13th March 2023.
Charles Carter of the Royal Artillery Hunt has had his court appearance adjourned once again. He was due to appear at Swindon Magistrates Court on 16th June 2022 for a plea hearing, but the court ran out of time. He is charged with illegally hunting a wild mammal with dogs on MOD land in 2021. (Rumours are circulating that charges have been or are about to be dropped in this case).
Matt Ramsden and Rhys Matcham from the Beaufort Hunt pleaded “not guilty” on 25th May 2022 at Swindon Magistrates Court to a charge of breaches of the Hunting Act 2004 last September. Their trial is scheduled to take place in September 2022.
Mark Antony Pearson of the South Dorset Hunt has been charged with hunting a wild animal with dogs in December 2021. His trial is set for the 17th & 18th of October 2022 at Weymouth Magistrates Court.
Paul O’Shea, a terrier man with the East Essex Hunt, pleaded guilty to Hunting Act 2004 and animal cruelty offences at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on 22nd June 2022 having been filmed stabbing a live fox with a garden fork. Sentencing will take place on 1st August 2022.
Chris Woodward of the Wynnstay Hunt has been charged with two separate hunting-related offences. One occurred near Malpas in November 2021 and the other near Wrexham in February of this year. His trial is due to take place in Wrexham on 6th September 2022.
William Hanson, huntsman, Fernie Hunt, is charged with hunting a wild mammal with a dog on 18th January 2022. He is due to appear in Leicester Magistrates Court on Wednesday 13th July 2022.
Daniel Cherriman, Master and huntsman, and Oliver Beasley, kennel man, South Shropshire Hunt pleaded not guilty to Hunting Act offences in Telford Magistrates Court on 21st June 2022. The alleged offence occurred in November last year. This was the hunt that trespassed on the National Trust’s Long Mynd days after the Trust banned all such activities.
Paul Martin, a member of the Western Hunt based in Madron, pleaded guilty on 13th June 2022 at Truro Magistrates Court to assault by beating and criminal damage in Sennen in October 2021. He was given a 6 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay a victim surcharge, compensation and CPS costs and was also given a 6-month conditional discharge for the offence of damaging a mobile phone.
Arun Squires, Huntsman from the Puckeridge Hunt is due to appear in Stevenage Magistrates’ Court on the 13th July 2022 for an alleged Hunting Act 2004 offence committed in December 2021.
And finally (for now at least) a hunt supporter, with East Sussex and Romney Marsh Hunt, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and criminal damage. The incident involved a tractor ramming a hunt monitor’s vehicle. The defendant has been banned from driving as part of his bail conditions and will be sentenced on 5th July 2022.
Did I say “and finally”? An update on 5th July 2022 to advise Duncan Drewitt and Verity Drewitt, landowners and Vale of White Horse Hunt members have been charged with breaches of both S.1 and S.3 of the Hunting Act 2004 with Sophie Scruton, Master of Vale of White Horse Fox Hounds has also been charged under S.1. This is the first occasion charges have been brought under S.3 of the Act. S.1 is the offence of hunting wild mammals with dogs. S.3 is the offence of knowingly permitting land owned by you to be entered or used in the course of committing an offence under S.1. All three will appear at Swindon Magistrates Court on 2nd August 2022.
It is fair to include the news that former MFHA Director, Mark Hankinson‘s appeal against his 2021 conviction for coaching “trail hunts” on to break the law and get away with it was heard at Southwark Crown Court between 6th-8th July. Judgement will be given at 9.30 am on 20th July 2022.
As I said, I’m looking forward to seeing how the BSHA and HSRA deal with convicted criminals amongst its membership and how it admonishes the hunts with which they rode. Viscount Astor’s challenge to “improve accountability, transparency and confidence in hunting activities” is getting harder every day and with every conviction. Public awareness of illegal “trail-hunting”, hound and horse mistreatment, assaults on hunt monitors, related wildlife crimes perpetrated by hunters and hunt followers, and trespass is high and growing all the time. As a result it already seems unlikely any major landowner is going to fall for a bit of self-regulatory window dressing and will continue to ban the issue of new hunting licenses to avoid reputational damage.
Add a series of hunt-related convictions across the country and it feels more likely other landowners will conclude the toxicity and public disdain for hunting means they should join the likes of the National Trust and sever ties with it once and for all.
ecolelogical 