MP says fox-killing QC should face full force of law

Lawyer who clubbed animal to death faces calls to be prosecuted for his ‘disgusting’ actions

A LEADING barrister who bludgeoned a fox to death with a baseball bat is facing calls to face the “full force of the law” as his actions were branded “disgusting” by an MP.

Jolyon Maugham QC was at the centre of an intensifying backlash last night as he was accused of killing the animal in an “extremely savage way” when it entered his garden on Boxing Day.

The lawyer said he had reported himself to the RSPCA amid calls for him to be prosecuted, but a decision on whether to launch proceedings is unlikely to be made until the new year, The Daily Telegraph understands.

Conservative MP Nigel Evans said Mr Maugham’s behaviour was “disgusting” as he led calls for the QC to face action over the animal’s killing.

He told The Telegraph: “It is beyond understanding. He should face the full force of the law.”

It came as Mr Maugham was rebuked by his own local council after he claimed “many or most London” authorities treat foxes as “urban pests” in response to outrage directed towards him on social media.

Retweeting a post by Labour MP Neil Coyle, who suggested Southwark Council guidance states clubbing foxes is the “only legally permissible means” of killing them, Mr Maugham tweeted: “Many or most councils in London treat foxes as an urban pest. And at least one recommends clubbing them (says the MP).”

But his remarks were swiftly denounced by Southwark councillors. Labour representative Richard Livingstone tweeted: “It is not our policy”. Mr Livingstone later posted: “For the removal of any doubt, Southwark council’s policy towards foxes does not in any way support bludgeoning them to death.” Officials claimed the council’s website made clear foxes were protected under the law and that a charity, The Fox Project, should be contacted as part of efforts to deter them. Mr Maugham was alleged to have repeatedly hit the wild animal after it got caught in netting protecting his chickens in the back garden of his central London home, where he lives with his wife and three children.

The QC, who backed Gina Miller’s Supreme Court challenge to Boris Johnson’s proroguing of Parliament, revealed to his Twitter followers that he had killed the fox on Boxing Day morning while dressed in his wife’s satin kimono. He said his chickens were “very distressed” and he “wasn’t sure what else to do”, but apologised to those who were “upset” by his actions.

He told The Telegraph he did not wish to comment last night.