NORFOLK LANDOWNER DENIES COURSING CHARGE
Eastern Daily Press
A prominent landowner was accused of allowing illegal blood sports on her Norfolk estate at the opening of a landmark trial yesterday.
Mary Birkbeck, 77, denies permitting her land at Little Massingham to be used for hare coursing - an outlawed country pursuit in which greyhounds compete to chase and “turn” their quarry.
She appeared alongside two other defendants at King's Lynn Magistrates' Court - Les Anderson, 80, of Lodge Road, Feltwell, and Robert Fryer, 41, from Tring in Hertfordshire.
Anderson, the chairman of Kimberley and Wymondham Greyhound Club, was accused of running the two events in November 2007 and January 2008.
But the charges against Fryer - accused of participating as the “slipper” who unleashes the dogs - were dismissed after district judge Philip Browning ruled the evidence against him to be inadmissible.
The case is the first of its kind to be brought by the RSPCA after coursing meetings, once a mainstay of the rural calendar, were banned with the introduction of the Hunting Act in 2005.
The court was shown video footage taken by animal-rights investigators which showed muzzled greyhounds chasing hares across a large field at Birkbeck's estate.
But Stephen Welford, defending, said Birkbeck and Anderson believed the event to be a legal “field trial” - an assessment of a dog's effectiveness as a hunting animal, which is exempt from the legislation.
Mark Fenhalls, prosecuting, said: “The principal and sole issue is whether what happened on those occasions amounts to hare coursing.
“The defendants say it was field trials and they faxed rules to the police in an attempt to seek police sanction for their actions. These rules were an attempt to draft something which was compliant with the act, but in fact what went on did not adhere to these regulations.”
Sgt Christopher Flanagan, of Hunstanton police, told the court he had given Anderson permission to hold the event after confirming with a wildlife-crime officer that the faxed regulations complied with the new laws.
Before the ban, coursing rules said hares should be given an 80-yard start before the greyhounds were released. A judge, mounted on horseback, would follow the pursuit and identify the winning dog based on its skill in forcing the more agile hare to turn. The capture and killing of the hare, although common, was not the object of the contest.
In contrast, the Hunting Act defines a field trial as a competition, other than hare coursing, in which dogs flush hares out of cover - which can then be legally shot by landowners.
RSPCA chief inspector Mike Butcher said hares were driven on to Birkbeck's field by a line of beaters and, although none were caught by the dogs, he saw no attempts to shoot them.
“The only difference I saw between this event and courses before the ban was that the judge was not mounted and the greyhounds were muzzled,” he said.
“The hares were beaten from an adjoining field and ran into the open field past about 70 spectators before being chased by dogs. To me, that is hare coursing, no matter how you describe it.”
Mr Butcher said he attended an event on January 8 where he watched four alleged courses and told Birkbeck and Anderson he believed the activity to be illegal.
But Mr Welford said no attempt had been made to cover up the meeting as the organisers had sought police approval. He said the field was surrounded by either mesh fencing or hedges which would allow the hares to escape, but prevent the dogs from following them.
The trial continues.
Mary Birkbeck, 77, denies permitting her land at Little Massingham to be used for hare coursing - an outlawed country pursuit in which greyhounds compete to chase and “turn” their quarry.
She appeared alongside two other defendants at King's Lynn Magistrates' Court - Les Anderson, 80, of Lodge Road, Feltwell, and Robert Fryer, 41, from Tring in Hertfordshire.
Anderson, the chairman of Kimberley and Wymondham Greyhound Club, was accused of running the two events in November 2007 and January 2008.
But the charges against Fryer - accused of participating as the “slipper” who unleashes the dogs - were dismissed after district judge Philip Browning ruled the evidence against him to be inadmissible.
The case is the first of its kind to be brought by the RSPCA after coursing meetings, once a mainstay of the rural calendar, were banned with the introduction of the Hunting Act in 2005.
The court was shown video footage taken by animal-rights investigators which showed muzzled greyhounds chasing hares across a large field at Birkbeck's estate.
But Stephen Welford, defending, said Birkbeck and Anderson believed the event to be a legal “field trial” - an assessment of a dog's effectiveness as a hunting animal, which is exempt from the legislation.
Mark Fenhalls, prosecuting, said: “The principal and sole issue is whether what happened on those occasions amounts to hare coursing.
“The defendants say it was field trials and they faxed rules to the police in an attempt to seek police sanction for their actions. These rules were an attempt to draft something which was compliant with the act, but in fact what went on did not adhere to these regulations.”
Sgt Christopher Flanagan, of Hunstanton police, told the court he had given Anderson permission to hold the event after confirming with a wildlife-crime officer that the faxed regulations complied with the new laws.
Before the ban, coursing rules said hares should be given an 80-yard start before the greyhounds were released. A judge, mounted on horseback, would follow the pursuit and identify the winning dog based on its skill in forcing the more agile hare to turn. The capture and killing of the hare, although common, was not the object of the contest.
In contrast, the Hunting Act defines a field trial as a competition, other than hare coursing, in which dogs flush hares out of cover - which can then be legally shot by landowners.
RSPCA chief inspector Mike Butcher said hares were driven on to Birkbeck's field by a line of beaters and, although none were caught by the dogs, he saw no attempts to shoot them.
“The only difference I saw between this event and courses before the ban was that the judge was not mounted and the greyhounds were muzzled,” he said.
“The hares were beaten from an adjoining field and ran into the open field past about 70 spectators before being chased by dogs. To me, that is hare coursing, no matter how you describe it.”
Mr Butcher said he attended an event on January 8 where he watched four alleged courses and told Birkbeck and Anderson he believed the activity to be illegal.
But Mr Welford said no attempt had been made to cover up the meeting as the organisers had sought police approval. He said the field was surrounded by either mesh fencing or hedges which would allow the hares to escape, but prevent the dogs from following them.
The trial continues.
