Hunt master threatened to ram bugle down saboteur’s throat
A HUNT master threatened to shove his bugle down the throat of a protester after his pet hound was “kidnapped”, a court heard. Kim Richardson, 59, the master of Crawley and Horsham Hunt in Sussex, confronted Raoul D’monte, a hunt saboteur, in February this year.
The hunter, dressed in a traditional red coat, shouted in Mr D’monte’s face as he brandished the hunting horn. Horsham magistrates’ court heard the hunt master was aggressive and threatening when he demanded the return of his dog. He told Mr D’monte: “Have you got my missing hound, you lot?”
The court was told that Richardson then swore as he threatened to put the bugle down Mr D’monte’s throat. Mr D’monte, 53, said he feared for his life during the confrontation.
Richardson was fined £2,500 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £635 and a victim surcharge of £130.
The court heard that one of the pack of hounds, called Chapter, had gone missing during the hunt on Feb 25.
When he realised one of his dogs was missing, Richardson told the court he sent assistants to find her. “My wife had brought her up from a very young age. They can hear the horn from miles away and always come back to it,” he said. “After an hour, she hadn’t returned. There were two or three of them [saboteurs] standing watching and they were trying to stroke the hounds, which I don’t like. One of my people said he’d just overheard on the sabs radio they had got a hound and were talking about whether or not they should return it. I slightly lost my temper and, probably a little bit over enthusiastically, asked if he wouldn’t mind giving my hound back.”
Describing the incident, Mr D’monte said: “He was jabbing the hunting horn towards my face, it was millimetres from my face. He had not mentioned the missing hound before. It was a terrifying moment and it has left quite an impact. He was very, very aggressive. As he was jabbing the horn at my face, he was saying he was going to ram it down my throat.”
Richardson had been on a legal drag hunt near Ashington in Sussex. District Judge Christopher James told him: “There is an element of provocation, but nonetheless your reaction was unreasonable and unbecoming of the position that you held and of your character.”