The first huntsman to be convicted of breaching the Hunting Act won his appeal yesterday.

Tony Wright, 53, of the Exmoor Foxhounds, appealed against his conviction at Barnstaple Magistrates Court last year for hunting a wild animal with dogs, a charge he denied. He was fined £500 and ordered to pay £250 costs under a private prosecution brought by the League Against Cruel Sports.

At Exeter Crown Court yesterday Judge Graham Cottle allowed his appeal, saying he was satisfied that Mr Wright had proved that he reasonably believed, perhaps optimistically, that he had put in place safeguards that he thought would ensure compliance with the Act.

After the hearing, Mr Wright said: “I am delighted with the result, which is what I believed all along.” He said the law was very difficult to interpret. “It shows we were trying our best and that is all anyone can do.”

Mike Hobday, head of the prosecution unit of the League Against Cruel Sports, said it was a “deeply surprising decision”.

He added: “We shall be taking urgent legal advice about the prospects of appealing on some of the findings of law.”

During the appeal, Richard Furlong, for the Crown Prosecution Service, which took over the case, claimed that on April 29, 2005, Mr Wright hunted two foxes with two hounds on Exmoor in circumstances which were in “clear breach” of the Act.

In his judgment, Judge Cottle, who sat with two magistrates, said: “This case has led us to the conclusion that the relevant law is far from simple to interpret or apply. It seems to us that any given set of facts may be susceptible to differing interpretations. The result is an unhappy state of affairs which leaves all those involved in a position of uncertainty.”

Hunting a fox with dogs was an offence under the Act unless the appellant could establish that he reasonably believed he was taking part in exempt hunting allowed by the legislation. The judge said he had no doubt that Mr Wright and the Master of the Hunt genuinely wished to comply with the Act, adding: “We do not consider either was simply paying lip service to the obligation to comply.”

Times Recommends

• Phoebe Caldwell wins Times/Sternberg Award
• Raging against fake pop has its own pitfalls
• How a voice for everyone led to stalemate