Fox killer barrister won’t be prosecuted
Animal hit with baseball bat ‘didn’t suffer’, say RSPCA
A LEADING barrister who sparked fury when he battered a fox to death in his back garden will not face criminal charges.
More than 48,000 signed a petition asking the Crown Prosecution Service to charge Jolyon Maugham with cruelty to animals after he admitted the killing at his London home.
Dressed in his wife’s satin kimono, the 48-year - old QC set upon the fox – which was trapped in netting protecting his chickens – with a baseball bat, claiming he ‘didn’t know what else to do’.
The RSPCA launched an investigation but it announced yesterday that the creature did not endure ‘unnecessary suffering’ so there was no prospect of a conviction.
A spokesman said: An‘ independent post-mortem and forensic veterinary assessment of the fox’s body was carried out and the findings indicate it was killed swiftly.
‘Therefore, in this case, the prosecutions department determined that the evidential threshold needed to take a prosecution under the CPS code was not met under any legislation relating to animals or wildlife.’
It is not illegal to kill a fox, but government guidelines state that if one is caught in a trap or snare on a person’s property, they must be ‘humanely’ killed.
Mr Maugham said he welcomed the decision over the Boxing Day killing but argued that the RSPCA’S advice to free trapped foxes if possible differed from government guidelines humanely your property kill ‘which and any say you fox one caught “shouldn “must on ’t ” release The row captured began foxes”’. when Mr Maugham, who made a name for himself through legal bids to stop Britain leaving the EU , tweeted: ‘Already this morning I have killed a fox with a baseball bat. How’s your Boxing Day going?’
He later added: ‘no one should relish killing animals – and I cer - tainly didn’t. But if you haven ’t been up close to a large trapped fox, perhaps reserve judgment.’ The barrister came under fire from campaigners including BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham, who told him: ‘You battered a fox to death rather than properly protect your chickens and then bragged about it.’ In a statement yesterday Mr Maugham sorry’ for the said upset he was caused ‘profoundly by his tweet, adding that in respect of the killing he ‘needed to act in great haste to save the chickens my family keeps’ and ‘did not have the luxury of time’ to reflect on a different approach. The RSPCA said its investigation into the killing involved independent experts, a veterinary pathologist and a forensic vet. A spokesman added: ‘The RSPCA does not condone the killing of healthy foxes. The correct way to protect your livestock is with good fencing and deterrents.
‘When a fox is tangled in fencing, it should be humanely freed wherever possible.’
Animal charities expressed dis - appointment at the decision.
Jade Emery, of Animal Aid, said: ‘There is no excuse for killing an animal with a baseball bat, espe - cially one who was trapped and very frightened.
‘We hope that even though a prosecution will not take place, the level of public outrage over the incident should act as a strong indicator of the public’s acceptance of urban foxes.’
Elisa Allen, of Peta UK, said: ‘no decent person could do anything other than condemn this wretched, over-privileged man for smashing a terrified fox’s skull with a base - ball bat.’