Hunt master's conviction overturned, prompting warning to prosecutors about saboteur 'evidence'

A master of the South Dorset Hunt has had his conviction for illegal hunting overturned after a judge raised "significant concerns" over the Crown's case, prompting the Alliance to issue a warning about using 'evidence' from anti-hunting activists.

Appearing before Bournemouth Crown Court for a two-day appeal against a conviction for illegally hunting a wild mammal with dogs, Mark Pearson MFH was cleared on Friday, 3rd March. Originally found to have "actively encouraged" a pack of hounds to hunt and kill a fox during an incident that took place on 13 December 2021 near Bere Regis, Pearson was fined £6,000, a victim surcharge of £190 and costs of £620, but these fines have all been successfully appealed.

Judge Climie said it was 'of significant concern' that the CPS did not call an expert witness in the case and there was 'not sufficient evidence' to find that Mr Pearson was seeking to encourage the pack to hunt a mammal. He did, however, say that the huntsman could have done more to prevent the fox's death.

Judge Climie said: "The most crucial part is that passage (of video) where (Pearson) reaches the gorseland and draws his whip in an effort to move the hounds away. That is clear and obvious in our judgement.

"We are sure (Pearson) realised there was a problem and he was required to take appropriate action to minimise the risk. He took some action. That action included horn calls which, in our judgement, may well have been intending to have the hounds be recalled. Having dismounted he was then on foot for some time before he reached the location of the marking.

"In our judgement, we are critical of the appellant as to what more he could have done. It seems to us that there was more he could have done and he seemed relatively fit for a 61 year old, as he was at the time. We're also concerned there was no further attempt to use the horn to recall the hounds.

"For those reasons we find that the Crown has fallen short of the standard of proof albeit, as we say, it is a case where it doesn't amount to culpable behaviour leading to conviction of a criminal offence (but) there are failures in the conduct of the appellant."

Animal rights activists provided the evidence that led to Pearson's original conviction, however, the Alliance has warned that bringing prosecutions based on evidence provided by hunt saboteurs was a waste of police time and resources.

Polly Portwin, Director of the Campaign for Hunting at the Countryside Alliance said: "This case serves as a strong reminder to the police and the CPS that they should be extremely careful pursuing prosecutions on the back of evidence that has been provided by anti-hunting extremists, which all too often result in a total waste of police time and resources."

Only recently, a damning independent review into the policing of hunting found that anti-hunt activists regularly submit "heavily edited" footage to police claiming it shows evidence of illegal hunting activity.

Research, commissioned by Labour's North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Andy Dunbobbin and conducted by Wrexham Glyndwr University, appears to vindicate concerns expressed by pro-hunting groups, who have long suspected that hunt saboteurs waste police time with "fraudulent" video footage.

Our response was covered by the Daily Telegraph. Their report can be found here.

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