EIGHT months on from the hunting ban in England and Wales, there has not been one prosecution for illicit hunting with dogs.

As hunts around the country gather today for the traditional opening meets, it is difficult to believe that a ban is in place.

The Hunting Act has been used twice against poachers yet three men in separate incidents who confessed to police that they hunted wild mammals with dogs escaped prosecution.

The League Against Cruel Sports is so frustrated by the lack of action from police and the Crown Prosecution Service that it has now brought a private prosecution. Tony Wright, huntsman with the Exmoor Foxhounds, is to appear at Barnstaple Magistrates’ Court on November 24 for an alleged breach of the ban. He denies the charge.

A league monitor filmed Mr Wright on the Devon side of the moor with dogs in April. The video footage was sent to police and the Crown Prosecution Service, but they decided not to pursue the case.

A new report from the league suggests that hunts in England and Wales are systematically breaking the law and that there have been 157 allegations of illegal hunting against 79 hunts. The league accuses the police of failing to enforce the ban.

The findings collated by the league since the ban was introduced on February 18 have now been sent to ministers, law officers and the Association of Chief Police Officers. The league alleges that packs of hounds are still chasing deer and foxes, that hounds are hunting with a token bird of prey that is not being used for the kill, that deer are being chased for long periods, and hunt staff are training young hounds to hunt fox cubs.

Douglas Batchelor, the chief executive of the league, said of the pro-hunt lobby: "They seem to think they are above the law and that there is one law for them and another for everyone else. Chasing wild animals for sport was never acceptable and it is now a crime and must be stopped."

The Times has learnt of three cases where men have admitted illegal hunting and police have taken no action.

Giles Bradshaw, of South Molton, Devon, regularly uses four dogs to flush out red deer from his coppice woodland. The law states that he can use only two dogs for flushing animals from cover.

If more dogs are used, the animal must be shot when it emerges from cover. He said: "If I killed the deer it would be OK, but I let the deer escape. The law is ridiculous."

Jamie Smith, of Bredon Hill, Worcestershire, has also been to police after his three dogs chased a fox around a barn. "The dogs got hold of the fox then I killed it with a crowbar. I then took the dead fox and the dogs to Evesham police station and told them what I did. I was later told that as it was an accident they would take no further action.

"I insisted it was not an accident and then got a recorded letter saying there would be no further action unless there was further information. I feel the police have been dumped in an impossible position with this mad law."

George Morrison, a former detective from Hexham, Northumberland, also owned up to using his dogs to kill a mouse in a room. "I reported it and a sergeant came to see me. I have since been told there will be no further action from the CPS because of insufficient evidence."

LEGAL PURSUITS

A hunt may use dogs to flush out a fox if it is then killed by a bird of prey such as a golden eagle

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Times Christmas appeal: Letter from the Editor
• Conferences — what a waste of money
• Schools supremo learns a painful lesson