LEAGUE AGAINST CRUEL SPORTS V TONY WRIGHT

League Against Cruel Sports

A private prosecution taken by the League Against Cruel Sports against Tony Wright, Huntsman for the Exmoor Foxhounds, for offences under the Hunting Act 2004.

The Allegation

Evidence obtained by Hunt Crimewatch hunt monitors shows a mounted Tony Wright and hunt supporters observing two foxhounds that in turn are chasing a fox. The hunt’s marksman is also shown being present, albeit he admitted of being a distance of up to one and a half kilometres away, on a quad bike with a shotgun bag slung over his shoulder and a spade and terrier box on the back of the bike.

The League believed the evidence clearly shows a fox being chased by foxhounds with no attempts made to either shoot the fox “as soon as possible” or attempts to call off the foxhounds from pursuing the fox.

The Video

The video evidence presented by The League Against Cruel Sports was not contested in court by Tony Wright or the Defence team. It was therefore accepted that:

• Only one person was present with a gun.
• Attempts were not made on numerous occasions, when the hounds appeared to be seeking a fox, to place the gun in a position to shoot the fox “as soon as possible”.
• The hounds were, at times, not under the control of Tony Wright, the Huntsman.

The League has argued that the video showed that the foxes were being neither stalked nor flushed out of cover, that no attempt was made to immediately shoot the fox, and that at times the marksman was a kilometre from the dogs. The presence of the marksman was therefore taken to be a token gesture and, in our opinion, the hunting could not be considered as exempt hunting.

The Defence

The Defence team have consistently argued that Tony Wright was acting within the law. It is argued that the Exmoor Foxhounds were flushing the foxes to be shot by the hunt’s marksman.

The Verdict

The District Judge has ruled that Tony Wright is guilty of offences under the Hunting Act 2004.

The Judges ruling makes it clear that it is not valid defence to have a gun present yet not deployed when carrying out exempt hunting. It also firmly establishes the requirement to ensure that foxhounds must be kept under the close control for the exemption to apply.

This landmark judgement shows that the Hunting Act 2004 is a clearly worded piece of legislation which can be used by the police, Crown Prosecution Service, and the courts, to oversee prosecutions against illegal hunting.

The League now echoes the calls of those 102 Members of Parliament who have signed EDM 1627 on the Anniversary of the Hunting Act 2004 and those 247 MPs who have signed EDM 1990 on Wildlife Crime that “rigorous vigilance” is required and that the Government “increase the priority of wildlife crime”.

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