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‘Fox was not being hunted’
THREE leading members of a North Yorkshire hunt were cleared yesterday of allegations of fox hunting after a three-day hearing.
Anthony Graham Winter, 44, Master of the Sinnington Hunt, of Sykehead Lane, Nawton, in Helmsley, his partner, Caroline Scott, 37, whipper in of the hounds, and hunt follower, Wilfred Gamble 65, of Beckett Close, Nawton, had each pleaded not guilty to hunting a fox with dogs in December last year, contrary to the Hunting Act.
District judge Simon Hickey adjourned the case last Friday after submissions were made by Robert Woodcock, QC for the defendants and the Countryside Alliance, that the three had no cases to answer.
Resuming the hearing yesterday at Scarborough Crown Court, Judge Hickey agreed there was no case to answer against Ms Scott, but wanted further evidence from the defence regarding Mr Winter and Mr Gamble.
John Paul Swoboda for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the three were not trail hunting, as was claimed.
League Against Cruel Sports officials had kept watch for two hours.
But Mr Woodcock described the evidence as “weak”, adding that a fox seen on video taken by a LACS officials showed it wandering across the former Wombleton Airfield near Kirkbymoorside while the hounds went in the opposite direction. “Clearly the fox was not being hunted,” he said.
The Crown Prosecution Service had brought charges against the three members of Sinnington Hunt on the basis of the evidence gathered by the League Against Cruel Sports.
The court was told on the opening day of the trial that the The League’s head of operations, Paul Tildsley, had been waiting with binoculars, camcorder and three assistants all equipped with two-way radios, when the Sinnington Hunt rode out on the former Wombleton Airfield, last December 16, following complaints from the landowner about the hunt’s previous behaviour.
Mr Tildley told the court on Thursday the investigators from the league had seen the fox run across the airfield then lost sight of it. He had heard the master’s horn, urging the hounds to return to him. Later, in woodland, he and his team found a hole which had been dug and widened and a small pool of blood and fox fur.
Questioned by Mr Woodcock, he said he had seen the fox going into the wood but not coming out of it.
And he also agreed that trail hunting – following a scent laid artificially – had been a response to the Hunting Act.
Mr Woodcock told the court on Friday that “legitimate activities” of a pack of hounds could include following a scent trail, during which it was possible that wildlife and mammals would be disturbed.
And he added the “absolute kernel” of the case was to be found in the short but critical part of the League’s video film which showed the fox pass the camera and, later, the hounds further away.
He told Judge Hickey: “It is my submission that only if you are sure that at the moment those hounds were hunting the identified mammal and that they were doing so intentionally, can you conclude that any of the defendants are guilty.”
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Weather for Malton
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
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Temperature: 11 C to 18 C
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