Hunt Violence- The Face Of The Cottesmore In 2024!

Northants Hunt Saboteurs spoke to us about the violence they have experienced from the Cottesmore Hunt.

“This season the campaign to close the Cottesmore Hunt has grown stronger. Every fundraiser has been targeted, a week of action was held during the cubbing season as we sabbed them five times during that week and we have been hitting them more often at their midweek meets.

But with this success comes a price and when dealing with the most notoriously violent fox hunt in Britain over the last five years then there was only going to be one outcome. Hunt Violence.

On the 30th December in Braunston-in-Rutland the Cottesmore held their ‘young persons priority meet’ which in layman’s terms is a chance to introduce young children to fox hunting. The Cottesmore used this day as an excuse to unveil their new gang of hired hunt ‘stewards’ who were there to in their words “protect the children”.

All wearing matching bomber jackets and balaclavas it was crystal clear to anyone that was the complete opposite of what they were there to do. One sab was punched in the face twice within a matter of minutes as sabs were chased and harassed for the entirety.

Heading into week two and this was where they showed their true colours. At their kennel meet in Ashwell the Cottesmore again had their puffer jacket ‘protectors’ on display. With a small team of sabs heading into the field to confront huntsman Sam Jones and the hounds head on, it wasn’t long before violence was once again on the cards.

Our female sabs were set upon by four masked men in the same matching jackets as they were violently grabbed hold of and chucked across the muddy ground repeatedly. One sab tried to get back to a vertical base but was forced back down to the muddy ground face first. They were called slags and bitches as they were constantly assaulted by the hired thugs. These assaults were reported to Leicestershire police at the scene.

This disgraceful treatment of women didn’t go unnoticed as we successfully got the story into the national press which exposed the Cottesmore big time, so much so that for the following week the matching puffer jackets were dropped but the violence level upped!

Week three saw the Cottesmore meeting in Wymondham and with a larger than usual police presence sabs were dropped into position and followed the hunt. Our vehicle team of driver and navigator made their way around the very familiar country keeping an eye on the hunt. Within ten minutes we ran into trouble. Our vehicle was blocked from the front by a land rover containing three of the hired hunt thugs who launched straight at our vehicle first by trying to gain entry and then by punching the windows and punching the wing mirror as our driver forced through the thugs by mounting the verge and away.

Another attempt was made to block us in down a country lane by another vehicle carrying more masked thugs but again we managed to evade them with a quick thinking three point turn. Words were had with the police officers present but they were either too thick or just straight up ignorant to understand what danger sabs were in. The officers were warned that violence levels would increase from the hunt if they didn’t act and with that came a hammer blow from nowhere!

Whilst parked up on a main road watching the hunt, sabs were set upon by three hunt vehicles all carrying masked thugs. With one vehicle parked across the middle of the road attempting to block us, three of the thugs ran at our vehicle with one smashing our wing mirror clean off with another producing a lump hammer which was then smashed into the windscreen of our moving vehicle in the corner to where the drivers face was.

Again a no messing approach was taken by the driver who managed to get the sabs out of the situation and then had to drive for a handful of miles with a smashed windscreen whilst waiting for the police to meet us. For most of that time we were followed by the attackers who clearly wanted to finish the job. For the second week in a row statements were provided to Leicestershire police at another Cottesmore crime scene.

Local press also picked up on this attack and ran a story highlighting the Cottesmores violence towards our group once more.

Leicestershire is a county like no other in the hunting world. It is unquestionably the home of fox hunting. The Cottesmore are one of the oldest foxhound packs in the country and one of the three main ‘shires’ packs along with the Quorn and the Belvoir.

We are proud to say that the Cottesmore are seriously struggling to cope with the pressure that the campaign has put them under, especially this season. They are adamant that by inflicting serious violence on us it will stop the campaign and allow them to rebuild the prestigious name of the Cottesmore foxhounds. Not for one second will Northants Hunt Saboteurs allow that to happen and we will win this war.”

Thank you to Northants Hunt Saboteurs for this post, please support them at
ko-fi.com/northantshuntsabs.

Find out how you can get involved with our campaign to strengthen the Hunting Ban here.