Lincolnshire’s first fox hunting charge resulted in conviction

A 59-year-old man has been found guilty of fox hunting, the first conviction of its kind in Lincolnshire.

Neil Burton, the Huntsman of the Burton Hunt, had denied a charge relating to an incident on 27 January, this year.

During a two-day trial at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court, footage captured by Lincolnshire Hunt Saboteurs was shown. In it, Burton is seen sitting on a white horse in the middle of Riseholme Lane, near Lincoln.

The footage then shows a fox running across the lane behind Burton, and into a wooded covert.

The fox was followed into the woodland by hounds. As this happened Burton rode his horse through a hedgerow and alongside the covert. He is heard using voice calls and his hunting horn. He was closely followed by the Hunt Saboteurs.

Burton denied he was encouraging his hounds to hunt the fox, but this was rejected.

DC Aaron Flint, of our Rural Crime Action Team, said: “We simply will not tolerate illegal fox hunting in Lincolnshire; it is a barbaric and savage activity. I hope this conviction sends a clear message that we will take anyone to court who, when the evidence allows, has taken part in such a cruel and primitive pursuit.

“The burden of proof for a court is beyond reasonable doubt and today they found that fox hunting had taken place.

“We will continue to monitor hunts closely and take robust and positive action against those who break the law.

“I would like to thank the witnesses who came forward and gave me the footage, this allowed me to carry out my investigation and I hope provides them with confidence that we will act when we can. I continue to appeal for any suspicious activity relating to foxhunting to be reported, this helps to identify where to focus our resources.”

Burton was fined £600 and must pay costs of £650 and a victim surcharge of £240.

The court heard evidence from expert witness, Stuart Scull, a Wildlife and Countryside Management Consultant. He viewed the video footage and said in his opinion Burton became aware of his hounds ‘speaking’ and later going into ‘full cry’, indicating they were on the scent of a fox. Mr Scull said he could hear three blows of a whistle on the video which may have been sounded by a whipper-in to indicate a fox has been seen. The defence disputed any whistling could be heard.

Burton is heard shouting ‘Go on, go on, go on’ and ‘Hi hi, hi hi, hi hi’ which are calls made by a Huntsman to encourage hounds to hunt.

Mr Scull gave evidence of how a huntsman will have a good knowledge of how his hounds work and will be very aware if they are hunting a fresh or an old scent. He described how along with the voice calls a hunting horn can be heard on the video ‘Blowing away’ or ‘Doubling the horn’, which are short pulsating notes, used to encourage hounds when a fox is roused; the only member of the hunt to use a hunting horn will be the Huntsman.  A longer note, referred to as a ‘disappointed’ sound is blown to discourage the hounds.

A second horn can be heard on the video blowing a longer note, the court heard this longer sound was made by a hunt saboteur who had also carried a horn to disrupt illegal hunting.

Mr Scull told the court that Burton was fox hunting.

Neil Burton told the court of his considerable experience as a Huntsmen in hunting and trail hunting. He knew of the Hunting Act 2004 and that it is now illegal to hunt foxes with hounds.

Burton went on to say he had been aware of the hunt saboteurs and was worried for the safety of his hounds. He had stopped his horse as he was waiting for his hounds to come to the road, which they did and they then took off. He said he was not happy with what the hounds were doing so went with the main pack and blew his horn to gather them all together; he did not want any hounds left on the road to get run over or damaged by the hunt saboteurs. He denied he was fox hunting.

He said he tried to get them to ‘lift their heads’. He had realised something was happening when he heard his hounds ‘speak’. This is a sound the hounds make when they probably had a rabbit in front of them, or something, he said. He said the hunt do not use whistles.

Burton told the officers the hounds did not catch a fox on that day.

The Hunting Act was passed in November 2004 and controls the hunting of wild animals with dogs; it also prohibits hare coursing. After the legislation was enforced in February 2005, many hunts started trail hunting, to retain the tradition and their infrastructure. The aim of trail hunting is to simulate the fox hunting practiced before the Hunting Act came into force.

A member of the Lincolnshire Hunt Saboteurs told the court they are a group of people who monitor and observe hunts and use non-violent, direct-action techniques to intervene only when the hunts attempt to pursue live quarry. They used their voice and horn calls to mimic the hunt staff to safely call the hounds away from their intended quarry.

The footage shows a fox running from right to left of screen, and the actions of the Huntsman after. The footage was recorded at Riseholme near Lincoln by a member of the Lincolnshire Hunt Saboteurs.