Two members of notorious BSV Hunt plead guilty to obstructing sabs

Charlie Mayo and Kieron Bashford of the notorious Blackmore and Sparkford Vale (BSV) Hunt plead guilty to willfully obstructing the highway on 3 March. Mayo is a rider for the BSV, the son of Anthony Mayo who is huntmaster. Bashford is a BSV supporter and occasional terrierman. The two BSV members had tried to block sabs from protecting a fox.

In 2024, Mayo was convicted of causing actual bodily harm (ABH) by hitting a sab on the head with his whip.

Blocking the road to stop a wildlife crime being witnessed

Protect the Wild asked North Dorset Hunt saboteurs about the incident that led to Bashford and Mayo’s arrest. They told us:

“It happened on the 7th of october 2023 in Pulham. A fox was chased over the road from the sewage works and behind the Halsey Arms. A sab was chased through the pub carpark by yobs then as she tried to follow them down Cannings Court Lane she was blocked by Bashford on foot and Mayo who was mounted and using his horse to repeatedly block the sab and force her into a hedge as she tried to pass”.

Things got worse, as the BSV resorted to stealing one sab’s radio. The BSV member responsible for the theft has since been prosecuted too and will be at Crown Court in August.

When Mayo and Bashford appeared in court on 3 March, their legal team tried to argue that the obstruct highway charge was inappropriate, even arguing that the the law was only meant to be used against Just Stop Oil (JSO) protesters on the M25! (despite the fact that the charge pre-dates JSO by about 40 years). When that didn’t work, the two defendants decided to change their plea to guilty.

Both defendants were given a 12-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £111 court costs.

Previous conviction for actual bodily harm

Protect the Wild’s Eliza Egret spoke to NDHS about the assault in December 2021 that left a hunt sab hospitalised, and resulted in Mayo’s 2023 conviction for a serious violent offence.

NDHS told Egret at the time:

“Two sabs advanced towards a gateway as hounds could be heard in cry further north. The first of three riders to make contact with sabs was Edward Doggrel, who used his horse to try and deter them. Clearly rattled, Charlie [Mayo] can he heard saying “you are not coming over the gate mate.” As those words are muttered, Edward Doggrel knocks the victim’s hat off his head with his whip. When the sab bends down to pick it up, Charlie Mayo reaches over the gate, then strikes the back of his head with the bone end of his whip. This caused a 3cm, full thickness laceration to the scalp that required glue and stitches at hospital.”

Mayo’s recent guilty plea shows that he hasn’t changed his ways. In using his horse to block sabs from reaching the site of a wildlife crime Mayo was again risking causing serious injury.

Another chapter in a long history of violence

Let’s take a little look at the BSV’s inglorious history. Protect the Wild has gathered reports from hunt saboteurs and monitors who have witnessed the BSV killing two foxes already this season, and chasing foxes a massive 57 times. The Hunt has also been caught tampering with no less than nine badger setts this season, in flagrant violation of the 1992 Protection of Badgers Act.

The BSV was suspended by the British Hounds Sports Association last year after shocking footage of their hounds killing and ripping up apart a fox in a private garden was captured by North Dorset Hunt Sabs (NDHS) and shown on Channel 4 news.

On top of that:

• In March 2025, a member of the BSV was filmed threatening a council worker with a spade, while causing havoc on the road.
• Dorset Police Rural Crime Team has said that it is investigating two reports of illegal hunting by the BSV in February 2025.
• In February 2025, police were called after a BSV member rode into a sab from NDHS while in pursuit of a fox.
• In 2024, Dorset Police arrested two members of the BSV over attacks on sabs from NDHS. One man was charged with assault and theft. The arrests are thought to relate to an assault on two female sabs by three masked men in October 2023. On that occasion, the women were pushed and shoved and their cameras were stolen. This assault was followed by attacks on the homes and vehicles of several hunt sabs.
• In August 2023 the BSV had been filmed allowing its hounds to kill a fox, and then tear up her corpse. BSV members didn’t intervene at any point.
• Also in August 2023, the Hunt was caught blatantly cubbing (trapping and killing young fox cubs).
• In 2020, a monitor from Somerset Wildlife Crime was knocked down by another member of the BSV.
• In 2014, the BSV’s Mark Dogrell trampled hunt saboteur Nid Warren with his horse, leaving her with serious injuries.

Protect the Wild is not surprised to hear of Mayo and Bashford’s guilty pleas. It’s obvious that the BSV are more than happy to cause havoc and violence to ensure they get to hunt foxes in breach of the Hunting Act. We need a full ban on trail hunting to put an end to the cruelty and violence for good.

Check out these links for more information about the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt: