Guilty! Hunting Act Hat-Trick Against Fitzwilliam Hunt

Earlier today, Fitzwilliam huntsman Shaun Parish and his whipper-in Jacob Whalley appeared at Peterborough Magistrates Court charged under Section 1 of the Hunting Act with evidence supplied by Bed & Bucks Hunt Sabs.

This case relates to an incident in November 2024 when once again Beds & Bucks were in the right place to gather the evidence required. This time the hunt chased a fox across a golf course in full view of those enjoying a round!

At the hearing Whalley pleaded guilty to the charge – he wasn’t going to get away with it this time! Unfortunately, his early guilty plea and lack of real deterrence within the current legislation meant a relatively small fine of £663. Whalley is leaving the Fitzwilliam to become huntsman of the Grove & Rufford Hunt – no doubt local sab groups will give him a welcome. Parish, however, pleaded not guilty and a trial has been set for November. With a previous conviction and on bail until that time he has to be very careful indeed.

The Fitzwilliam Hunt are one of the most prosecuted hunts in the country. Famous for having very deep pockets thanks to their owner, the 4th Baronet Sir Philip Naylor-Leyland and spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on an injunction to avoid sab scrutiny.

The problem they have is that in spite of the restrictions and intimidation faced by sabs and the requirement to stick to public rights of way, they still get caught out. Foxes are unaware of boundaries, so sabs are often on hand to be in the right place at the right time and save lives, but also get the evidence required to put them before the courts.

The Fitzwilliam were first convicted in 2018, with the huntsman George Adam being found guilty under section 1 of the Hunting Act. They appealed that conviction, but the original decision was upheld and became a landmark case, as it was the first against a hunt which claimed to use the Falconry Exemption in the Hunting Act. Much like trail hunting, having a bird of prey present was just another smokescreen, an attempted alibi for real hunting. The footage and witness testimony for this case came from Beds & Bucks Hunt Sabs, with support from South Cambs Hunt Sabs.

Fast forward to 2023 and they found themselves before the courts again, this time footage supplied by Peterborough Hunt Sabs, with support from Beds & Bucks, showed them blatantly hunting a fox in full view, a fox which had been dug out from an earth while the riding field looked on. That case resulted in huntsman Shaun Parish pleading guilty on the day of the trial with the charges against the whipper in, Jacob Whalley being dropped.

Beds & Bucks Hunt Sabs said:

“We’re clearly happy with another conviction, however the paltry fine for a Hunting Act offence is no deterrent for those with deep pockets and that clearly needs to change. We look forward to November when we’ll hopefully conclude this chapter with another conviction. The Fitzwilliam Hunt refuse to accept the law of the land and blatantly hunt foxes. Regardless of their attempts to intimidate us we will never go away and we’ll use every tool at our disposal to save the lives of the wildlife they persecute and bring them before the courts”.

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