Fur flies after QC boasts of killing a fox with baseball bat
MOST Boxing Day encounters with nature do not go further than a brisk walk or bracing swim but for Jolyon Maugham QC, it was a little more red in tooth and claw.
The prominent pro-remain lawyer announced on Twitter to his 179,000 followers that he had “killed a fox with a baseball bat”.
He said that the animal had become caught up in protective netting around his hen house. The backlash was swift and he was dubbed an “animal murderer” and a “fox killer”. Chris Pack- ham, the campaigning Springwatch presenter, said that managing wildlife “doesn’t necessitate cruelly killing it”.
The RSPCA said the story was “distressing”, adding: “We’ve been made aware of this and are looking into it.”
Mr Maugham later apologised “to those upset by my tweet”.
The lawyer, who was behind a number of legal challenges to Brexit, including fighting prorogation in the Scottish courts and supporting Gina Miller’s High Court battle, said he killed the animal because he “wasn’t sure what else to do”. Government guidelines state that the property owner must “humanely kill any fox you catch while it’s in the trap or snare”.
Foxes are protected under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and causing them unnecessary suffering can lead to a jail term of up to 51 weeks and a fine of up to £20,000.
Mr Maugham said: “To those concerned I have broken the law, I called and spoke to the RSPCA and left my contact details.”
He said that killing the animal was not a “great deal of fun”.
“Chickens a little anxious but otherwise well,” he added, saying that he was now “nursing my hangover with a coffee. As was my original intention”.
He later added he was “shocked by the whole tooth-and-claw experience”.