Huntsman fined over web tips on beating ban
The head of a national hunting group was fined yesterday for offering advice on how to run illegal hunts in online lectures.
Mark hankinson, a director of the Masters of Foxhounds association, was recorded on two training webinars encouraging 150 members to use a ‘smokescreen’ to hide illegal foxhunting.
Yesterday the 60-year-old was convicted of encouraging foxhunting, which was outlawed by the hunting act 2004.
The farmer from Sherborne, dorset, was fined £1,000 for providing two webinars between 11-13 august last year which were leaked online. he was also ordered to pay £2,500 towards legal costs.
In the clips he acknowledged that trail hunting, which was devised in the wake of the act to replicate the outlawed sport, was a cover for the chasing and killing of foxes.
Under the rules, horseback riders with dogs can legally follow trails laid with scent, instead of chasing a live animal. however, if hounds were to pick up the scent of a fox and chase it as a result of the trail, then there are no legal consequences.
In one webinar he told members: ‘It’s effectively illegal to intentionally hunt a wild mammal with more than two dogs but you will see there’s quite a few exemptions.
‘So obviously trail hunting, which is our main card, is a critical one, but that trail hunting needs to be visible and credible and those involved need to be robust when questioned.’
he added: ‘Some people say, “What’s the point in laying trails?” But I think it’s fairly selfexplanatory. If you haven’t laid a trail you won’t be covered by insurance... don’t forget it’s a much more serious offence to commit perjury in court than commit offences under the hunting act.’
although the defence argued that he had been advising what to do if saboteurs disrupt legal hunts, deputy Senior district Judge Tan Ikram said: ‘I simply did not find him credible in any of the explanations he gave for his words.
‘his words are clear and, in context, consistent and unambiguous... In my judgement, he was clearly encouraging the mirage of trailing to act as a cover for oldfashioned illegal hunting.’ The case
‘The mirage of trailing as a cover’
against the farmer was brought by animal welfare charity League against Cruel Sports after clips of the webinar were leaked and then posted online. Yesterday members of the group protested outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court where hankinson, pictured, was being sentenced. Giving evidence hankinson claimed he had been unfairly penalised. But Rachael Taylor, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said: ‘Mark hankinson is a well-known figure in the hunting community and his actions have today been found to encourage the offence of hunting a fox with a dog.’ She added she was ‘committed’ to ensuring these types of offenders are ‘held accountable for their actions’.