A police investigation into conduct by the Meynell and South Staffordshire Hunt was undertaken by Derbyshire Police and based on evidence captured by the animal welfare charity League Against Cruel Sports.

The six accused will put in a plea and a case management hearing will be held.

Joint masters William Tatler and Peter Southwell, former huntsman Sam Staniland, whipper-in John ‘Ollie’ Finnegan, terrier man Andrew Bull and assistant terrier man Sam Stanley, face a charge of hunting a wild mammal with a dog contrary to Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004.

Hunting Act

The alleged offence is said to have been committed on Saturday, 2 October 2018 in local woodland near Sutton on the Hill in Derbyshire.

Before the Hunting Act was introduced, hunts would train their hounds to kill adult foxes by first training them to hunt and kill young fox cubs living in patches of woodland. When the Hunting Act was introduced that practice was made illegal.

Martin Sims, Director of Investigations at the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “We welcome the fact that Derbyshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have brought these charges against the hunt.

“Our polling indicates that the vast majority of the public oppose hunting with packs of hounds, and if proven, these allegations that the hunt are targeting fox cubs would horrify them.”

The case comes 14 years after hunting with dogs was banned in England and Wales with the introduction of the Hunting Act 2004, which came into force in February 2005.

This Article

This article is based on a press release from the League Against Cruel Sports.