A terrierman for the East Essex Hunt illegally used a dog to drive a fox from underground before slowly stabbing it to death with a garden fork.
Paul O'Shea, 49, of Mount Bures, Essex, admitted charges of hunting a wild mammal with a dog and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal when he appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 22nd June 2022.
The prosecution withdrew a charge of hunting a wild mammal with a dog against a 16-year-old girl.
Causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal is an offence under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2004. The maximum penalty is 5 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment; 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction.
Hunting a wild mammal with a dog is an offence under section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004. The maximum penalty on summary conviction is an unlimited fine. A previous article summarises the Hunting Act 2004.
The pair attended Great Monks Wood near Coggleshall on the early evening of Saturday, 4th December 2021.
Members of an anti-hunt group, the North London Hunt Sabs, had positioned covert cameras overlooking an artificial fox earth constructed at the site.
The damning footage clearly shows the pair arriving and a terrier being released underground by the girl.
A short while later a fox was driven up to the surface, where it became entangled in a net. The terrier had a tight hold of the fox at this stage.
O'Shea could then be seen lifting the fox by its tail and untangling the net from around its body. He passed the terrier back to the girl, who then walked out of camera shot.
Still holding the fox by its tail, O'Shea took a garden fork with his left hand and walked the distressed animal to a nearby tree trunk. Supporting the fox against the trunk of a tree, he then thrust the fork through its body.
The fox was seen writhing in pain as O'Shea manoeuvred it to the ground and stabbed it for a second time, this time jiggling the prongs for maximum effect.
He again picked up the fox by its tail, its legs kicking as the last bit of life drained from its helpless body.
The pair were then seen to "reset" the fox earth, no doubt in the hope of luring further foxes to their death.
North London Hunt Sabs passed the footage to Rupert Evelyn of ITV News, who subsequently reported on it.
Magistrates' ordered a pre-sentence report. They warned O'Shea that the section 4 offence was imprisonable and all sentencing options remained open.
O'Shea was granted unconditional bail until his sentencing at the same court on Monday, 1st August 2022.
The relevant sentencing guideline can be viewed here. Considering the information available it is likely this offence would be considered one of higher culpability and greater harm, giving a starting point that crosses the custody threshold.
This is a breaking story, so we shall update this article as and when more information is available.
4 comments:
This was an absolutely horrific crime and there will be outrage if it doesn’t result in a lengthy prison term. Hard to imagine just what could be worse under the legislation. People campaigned for tougher sentences particularly to deal with this and deter others from such appalling crimes.
Thanks for your comment. I am in full agreement that this is an appalling offence. However, what I would say is that the court has to objectively consider the matter in the whole - that is to say the circumstances of the offender as well as the offence. It has to balance the mitigating as well as aggravating factors of the offence. It should also be said that just because this offence might have a starting point that crosses the custody threshold, that does not make custody inevitable.
Absolutely abhorrent! If he can inflict such horrendous & excruciating agony onto a defenceless animal he could do it a human without any remorse. He has to be given 5yrs in prison. The man is clearly a psychopath! Poor fox - we can’t imagine how much the animal was forced to endure before losing consciousness. Horrific doesn’t seem adequate enough a description!
I am not in the habit of blocking comments, but I have had to on this occasion. As it stands at the moment, the 16-year-old cannot be identified for legal reasons - that is why the comment was blocked.
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