TWO FINED FOR HUNTING DEER WITH HOUNDS

By Richard Savill
Telegraph

Two men were found guilty yesterday of illegally hunting deer with hounds in the second case brought against a hunt since the ban was imposed two years ago.

The verdicts against huntsman Richard Down, 44, and whipper-in Adrian Pillivant, 36, of the Quantock Staghounds in Somerset were hailed as a victory by the League Against Cruel Sports, which brought the private prosecution.

However, the Countryside Alliance, which supported the men, said the outcome had increased confusion over the Hunting Act, which it said was a "bad law that needs to be got rid of."

The two men were convicted at Bristol magistrates court after anti-hunt campaigners filmed two hounds chasing a herd of 11 deer across Exmoor.

The men claimed they were acting within exemptions in the Hunting Act, using two dogs rather than a pack.

They said they were flushing out deer for the gun rather than chasing them to exhaustion.

However, the league claimed that the deer were chased for more than an hour for sport. Down, of Bagborough, Somerset, and Pillivant, of Willand, Devon, both denied contravening the Hunting Act, which came into force in February, 2005.

Finding them guilty, District Judge David Parsons fined both men £500 and ordered them to pay £1,000 each as a contribution towards costs.

"The defendants were hunting for sport and recreation to continue their way of life and are disingenuous in attempting to deceive me into believing that they were exempt from hunting," he said.

Mike Hobday, of the League Against Cruel Sports, said afterwards he was delighted with the verdicts.

"The chasing of wild animals is cruel, immoral and illegal," he said.

The Countryside Alliance said the men would consider appealing against the verdicts. The alliance said the pair had given evidence that they had been flushing deer to concealed guns, as they thought the law allowed.

Simon Hart, the alliance's chief executive, said: "On the day in question they hunted with two hounds, as stipulated by the Act, and ensured there were experienced guns in place to shoot the deer. They shot six deer. If this is not flushing to guns I do not know what is."

He added: "In the end this is one simple solution to the mess which will end all the confusion and waste of police and court resources. The Hunting Act is a bad law and needs to be got rid of."

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