The trial of whipper-in Jamie Price, huntsman Jack Henty and Hamish Golding of the Essex and Suffolk hunt collapsed on Tuesday 11 March at Ipswich Magistrates Court, after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyer failed to disclose a document to the defence. Wildlife monitors were dismayed, as the three men evaded prosecution.
Price, Henty and Golding were due to stand trial for two counts of illegal hunting, and one charge of assault. One of the hunting charges related to the killing of a fox.
Suffolk Action for Wildlife (SAF) told Protect the Wild:
“There were two different incidents, one on 16 December and one on the 23 December. On 16 December a fox was chased across the road in front of our monitors into private property. That was witnessed by a member of the public as well. And then the incident on 23 December was actually a kill, unfortunately. The fox didn’t make it. Again, that was in front of monitors. That was when the whipper-in actually got off his horse, picked up the fox and ran up the road with her.”
The group had gathered video footage of the incident and submitted it to Suffolk Police’s Rural Crime team.
The assault charge related to Golding using his horse as a weapon against Monitors on 23 December.
Case collapses due to CPS error
Ten witnesses from Suffolk Action for Wildlife and one member of the public were ready and waiting to give evidence in the trial.
But the case fell apart after the judge ruled that the CPS had failed to provide documents to the defence team within the allotted time period. This error means that all of the evidence of illegal hunting meticulously gathered by monitors will not lead to a conviction.
A spokesperson from SAF remarked, after the judge’s ruling:
“We have worked really hard. We monitor this hunt two, three times a week, every week We see them illegally hunting every week. And it’s really difficult to get enough evidence to be robust enough to be accepted by the CPS in the first place, and then to have the CPS mess up, and for the case to be thrown out because of their mistakes is just devastating.
We have regularly put together footage for the police that shows, believe me, hunting, but doesn’t meet the standards of the CPS, and the standards needed to get a conviction in court. This footage did meet those standards. Two counts of legal hunting. Both met the standard, and both would have had a very good chance of going through.”
SAF voiced particular concern about the behaviour of ESH huntsman Henty who, they said, had become more and more aggressive with monitors and sabs as the season has gone on.
They told us that Monitors have had to call the police repeatedly because of his escalating aggression.
In a statement on SAF’s Facebook page, the group vowed to keep on fighting against wildlife abuse. They wrote:
“The fight is not lost, merely paused while we regroup. And regroup we will, as Suffolk Action for Wildlife will not stop until illegal fox hunts are history.“
Not all good news for the Essex and Suffolk
Despite the CPS’ failure in court this week, sabs still have the ESH outflanked. SAF told us how they had joined over 50 wildlife defenders on 9 March to make sure that the ESH couldn’t kill any foxes. SAF were working alongside sabs from North London Hunt Saboteurs Norfolk/Suffolk Hunt Saboteurs South Norfolk Hunt Saboteurs and the South Suffolk Hunt Sabs Group.
HHS described the day on their Facebook page:
“Huntsman Jack Henty is an unhappy boy as his every move is covered by Sabs – the large field of riders had a boring day of mainly standing around or walking.”
So it’s not all good news for Henty and his co-defendants. The EHS have reportedly finished their season early, likely because of the trial that was due to start this week.
Protect the Wild is angry that the prosecution against Henty, Price and Golding has fallen apart. The CPS failure should be a reminder that we can only rely so far on the court system to hold hunters to account. If we are going to protect our wildlife we need to tackle them on as many fronts as possible – in the field, online, and in the public domain.
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Support Suffolk Action for Wildlife and Suffolk Hunt Sabs and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
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Find your local hunt sab group.
- Read Protect the Wild’s proposal for a comprehensive ban on hunting.
