An ambulance was called to help a man that said he was attacked by two men on a quad bike. The incident during a meet of the Worcestershire Hunt.
Worcester News reported on 16 February that Mark Saddler was taken to hospital after he claimed that he was attacked by two men. The newspaper quoted Saddler as saying that he heard a quad bike drive up to him and, after a short argument:
“my stick was taken off me, and a fist was coming at me.
“Two, three minutes later, I wake up on the floor with my stick gone.
“I could not get up, my hip was in agony.
“I could not use my stick because that was stolen.”
The alleged attack occurred on 1 February, during a meet of the Worcestershire Hunt. Three Counties hunt Saboteurs, who were present, said on the day that “a serious assault” took place on a “disabled gentleman” that wasn’t a sab. And the group’s hit report for the day suggested the two men attacking Saddler were terriermen for the Worcestershire Hunt.
According to Worcester News, Saddler received head injuries and damage to his retina, and his walking stick was stolen. He said that, as a result, he had “bad” pain and a “messed up” eye. Equally importantly, the attacked has left him “anxious”.
Man attacked in after going to watch hunt.
Mark Saddler was left with head injuries, a stolen walking stick and damage to his retina after he claims he was attacked by two men.#WorcestershireHunthttps://t.co/asfP60qf7n
— Trail hunting is illegal fox hunting (@trailhuntlies) February 17, 2023
A spokesperson for the Worcestershire Hunt denied knowing anything about the attack to the newspaper.
“Unrecognisable”
When sharing the Worcestershire News article, Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs reiterated that Saddler isn’t a hunt saboteur. In fact, the group said, he was previously a hunt servant (paid member of a hunt) that has lately “spoken out” against the “state of hunting”.
Someone that appeared to be Saddler himself responded in the comments of the sab group’s post. He said he was a whipper-in for three different hunts between 1981 and 1990. He went on to claim that “you cannot compare” hunting today with what it was during his period of hunt service. Qualifying this statement in another response, Saddler said:
“the lie lie of violence lots of unnecessary suffering that is needless the kill kill kill madness and how hunting people Masters most staff not all, Terrier man all there conduct etc it’s unrecognisable since my day” [sic]
Lowest of the low
It’s not the first time that people associated with hunts have attacked those with disabilities. A court convicted John Wright in August 2022 for attacking a disabled member of Glasgow Hunt Saboteurs. Wright is connected to the Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire Foxhounds, the group said. And in February 2022, Norfolk/Suffolk Hunt Saboteurs reported that terriermen with the Waveney Harriers took a phone from a monitor “recovering from a stroke and still only partially capable of walking” with a stick. The terriermen then allegedly taunted the monitor, playing ‘piggy in the middle’ with the monitor’s phone.
It’s clear that some hunt members and followers will stoop to the lowest depths in order to protect their cruel industry. And even former hunt members are disgusted by such actions.
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