Man Cleared Of Illegal Fox Hunting In Harborough Village

A man has been cleared of illegal fox hunting in a Harborough village.

William Hanson was found not guilty following a trial yesterday, after being charged by Leicestershire Police following an incident in Peatling Magna, near Lutterworth last year.

The prosecution at Leicester Magistrates’ Court said he had deliberately forced a fox from trees and allowed it to be chased on January 8th 2022.

But while accepting the fox had been pursued, the court said it had not been proven it was done deliberately.

Main Street in Peatling Magna

The court heard the hounds started chasing a fox while riders were sheltering from bad weather in a patch of trees and was shown CCTV footage of the fox, hounds and some riders in and around the car park of The Cock Inn.

Mr Hanson, 33, of Swinbrook, Oxfordshire, had denied a charge of hunting a wild mammal with a dog.

The Hunting Act 2004 requires intent to be established and the magistrates said this had not been done.

At the time of the incident, the Great Bowden-based Fernie Hunt said while conducting hunting activities within the law, a number of its hounds became ‘disorientated’ during rainfall and it took immediate action to retrieve them.