Credit;PA
One of the world’s leading hunters was found guilty today of encouraging members to use a “smokescreen” to hide illegal foxhunting.
Mark Hankinson, the director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association and an employee of the Hunting Office, was found guilty of encouraging or assisting others to commit an offence.
The 60-year-old was charged after footage from two webinars for MFHA was obtained by anti-hunting activists who passed it to the media and the police.
Trail hunting is when horseback riders with dogs follow trails laid with scent in advance, which is a legal activity.
However, if hounds were to pick up the scent of a fox and chase it as a consequence of this then there is no ramification.
Traditional hunting of foxes with a pack of dogs is illegal in the UK.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, described the webinars as invitation-only, and therefore Hankinson felt he could “speak freely with like-minded individuals”.
He said: “This is of significance, and of central to the issue, that ‘we need to have clear visible plausible trailing behind done throughout the day’.
“He said ‘it’s a lot easier to create a smokescreen if you’ve got more than one trail and trying to portray to the people watching that you’re going on about your legitimate business.’.
“A lot of people in the past have said we laid trails earlier or laid trails the day before, but the situation when we’ve got saboteurs or antis or whatever, that’s not going to work very well.
“We need to have visible trailing on the day and it needs to be as plausible as possible.”
Hankinson also said in the webinar: “Some people say well, what’s the point in laying trails? Well, I think it’s fairly self-explanatory.
“If you haven’t laid a trail on a daily basis you’re not going to be covered by the insurance.
“You know, we’ve been there before with the sort of no evidence and it just doesn’t work. We’ve got to have the evidence if we’re going to take it forward.
“These court cases are extremely expensive and every time it goes badly wrong for us we take quite a financial hit so we need those trail lays laid properly, we need that evidence and it needs to be credible and it needs to be robust.
“Very important that whoever is laying those trails is prepared to stand up and be counted, and that will mean going to court so your trail layers need to be of a calibre that they will stand up and face cross-examination in a courtroom.
“Obviously we also need it if we’re going to get any support from the police, particularly when they are dealing with saboteurs and the like, if you haven’t got any visible trail laying evidence how on earth are we going to refuse these allegations?
“And this is increasingly coming to light with this now that the police are not prepared to support this when we have problems with saboteurs, if we can’t prove quite conclusively that we’re not taking the mickey and just using this as a shield.”
The judge said: “In evidence, the defendant came across as articulate and expressive in the use of the English language.
“I did not find him credible in any of the explanations he used.
“He tried to innocently explain but was unable to do so. I reject any of the words he used in the webinars were clumsy.
“There was a clear and common thread throughout his address on two webinars on two separate dates.
“In my judgement, he was clearly encouraging the mirage of trailing to act as a cover for old-fashioned illegal hunting.”
He added: “If more evidence was needed, the reference to have at least one trail layer out there is wholly illogical if legal hunting was being suggested.
“If it was trail hunting, it would go without saying that it would need at least one trail layer because it simply wouldn’t go on without it.
“You would only need to suggest the need of one if it was a sham and a smokescreen.”
Richard Lissack QC, in mitigation, claimed it was “wholly out of character for this man of 60 years of age” and it was “shocking for him, for his family and for his friends”.
Hankinson, who wore a pinstripe suit and polka dot tie, must pay a fine of £1,000, pay a contribution to costs of £2,500 and a victim surcharge of £100 in seven days.
Related: ‘Mob rule, as bloodsports enthusiasts run riot:’ Monbiot’s passionate thread to stop hunting
