Hunt prosecutions fail
TWO hunt prosecutions have collapsed in the past week.
On 15 March three members of the Grove and Rufford — huntsman Paul Larby, amateur whipper-in Jane Wright and Peter White — won their appeal against a conviction for illegal hunting. The case collapsed after it was revealed that the prosecution failed to show 50 photographs containing clear evidence supporting the defendants’ case that they were all hunting legally.
Countryside Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner said of the case: “This has been a long, stressful and expensive process which never should have happened. If all the evidence had been available from the start it is unlikely that there would have even been a prosecution, and there would certainly never have been convictions in the magistrates’ court.
“The police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) need to be extremely careful in hunting cases that the views of witnesses and others involved in investigations do not unduly influence prosecutions and decisions to prosecute.”
And Portman joint-master and huntsman Evo Shirley was found not guilty of offences under the Hunting Act 2004 on 14 March at Poole Magistrates’ Court. He faced two charges of illegal hunting.
“This is another case in which there was ample evidence that the hunt was operating legally,” said Tim Bonner.