Fox officer accused of affairs with anti-hunting activists

A POLICE officer who investigated a fox hunt was accused of having an affair with an activist during a two-year “smear campaign”, it has emerged.

Pc Richard Barradale-smith, of West Mercia Police, was accused of having affairs and leaking confidential information to activists, the BBC has revealed.

The claims began after footage was released in 2016 appearing to show fox cubs being taken into a kennel of hunting hounds.

This week West Mercia Police announced that three men and two women had been charged with animal cruelty after the investigation against members of South Herefordshire Hunt.

The footage, believed to have been recorded on cameras installed by antihunting activists, appears to show a man dumping a dead fox cub in a bin.

It was revealed yesterday that Pc Barradale-smith was handed the footage as he had investigated allegations made by campaigners in the past.

But West Mercia Police began an internal investigation into the officer after receiving an allegation that Pc Barradale-smith had been in relationships with two anti-hunting activists, including the woman who brought him the evidence. The allegation, which would have been misconduct in public office, led to the police searching both his house and that of the activist.

It was also reported that the person who made the allegations has close links to the South Herefordshire Hunt but that he is not one of those charged.

The BBC reported that Pc Barradalesmith

‘We actively seek to protect animals from cruelty and to prevent their suffering’

was cleared of all wrongdoing earlier this year, but a spokeswoman for West Mercia Police said: “An internal investigation in relation to this case is currently ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

Det Insp Jonathan Roberts of West Mercia Police said: “Cases of animal cruelty are treated very seriously and we actively seek to protect animals from cruelty and to prevent their suffering.”