Foxhounds master cleared in first test of new hunting law

THE first huntsman charged under Scotland’s controversial fox hunting laws was yesterday found not guilty, in a ruling which could have far-reaching effects for the sport.

Trevor Adams, 46, walked free from Jedburgh Sheriff Court when it was ruled he had not deliberately hunted a fox with 20 dogs.

Sheriff Kevin Drummond said that Mr Adams was operating within the two-year-old act when he led a group who were working for free to rid farmland of pests.

He stated: "I have found that he was searching for foxes for the purpose of flushing them from cover in order that they might be shot. He acted to ensure that that was done. I have found that the dogs were under control at the material time."

Speaking after the case, Mr Adams, formerly hounds master of Scotland’s largest hunt, the Buccleuch, said: "I am very relieved by the sheriff’s ruling. Having never been accused of a crime before, I am very glad that justice has prevailed and I am looking forward to getting on with my life.

"I will continue in my job as a huntsman for the Buccleuch Foxhounds and will continue to offer the pest control service that the landowners and farmers have requested from us.

"I am personally very pleased that our interpretation of the new form of hunting has been supported by this judgment."

The Duke of Buccleuch’s Foxhounds are due out today, led by Mr Adams.

Joe Scott-Plummer, a spokesman for the Buccleuch Foxhounds, said: "We have always believed Trevor to be innocent and he has our full support as a huntsman. This confirms our belief that the fox control service that we have been offering landowners and farmers over the past two and a half years has been undertaken within the bounds of the law."

But Mike Hobday, of the League Against Cruel Sports, said the case should be treated on its own and said legislation was still in place to curb illegal hunting. "The sheriff has found that in this case there was not enough evidence under the act to convict and, as is right and proper, Mr Adams was found not guilty.

"But the message is still clear that if people go out fox hunting and break the law they will be brought to court."

The Crown had argued that after the hounds had gone past people who were placed in advance with guns without a shot being fired and still in pursuit of the fox, the dogs were effectively hunting. But Sheriff Drummond disagreed, and said the burden was on the Crown to establish that an accused person deliberately hunted a wild mammal with dogs.

Mr Adams was the first huntsman charged under the Protection of Wild Mammals Act 2002, which had been introduced following a bill by Lord Watson.

He had been charged with deliberately hunting a fox with 20 dogs at Courthill, near Kelso, on 16 October, 2002.

At the time of the alleged offence - two months after the legislation was introduced - he was in charge of a group called the Pest Control Service (PCS), which offered a free service to farmers. The law permits the use of hounds to drive foxes towards people with guns.

After the hearing yesterday, Graham Fraser, the procurator fiscal, said: "The sheriff’s judgment is under consideration."

Meanwhile, the farmer who sparked the case off by alerting police, said fox hunting was alive and well in Scotland.

Ian Hutcheson, 50, had told the Pest Control Service they were not welcome on his land prior to the day of the alleged offence. He said: "Why were the hounds on my land if they were under control? Quite frankly I am surprised the case ever came to court because the law is too ambiguous."

Tory MSP Alex Fergusson, a party spokesman on rural affairs, welcomed the ruling but claimed the legislation had been a waste of parliamentary time and of taxpayers’ money. "This ruling has shown that it will be virtually impossible to prosecute anyone, as flushing out foxes for the purpose of control has been proved to be entirely different from hunting for all legal purposes. What this ruling has done is vindicated those of us who said that this legislation would be unenforceable and was unnecessary."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive’s Environment and Rural Affairs Department said they would give the ruling "detailed consideration".

Meanwhile, more than 250 hunts will meet legally in England and Wales the day after the ban on hunting with dogs comes into force there. The Countryside Alliance said the meets on 19 February would show the law was "impossibly difficult to determine" and open to interpretation.