‘National Trail Hunting Day’ Organised by Convicted Fox Hunter

One of the key organisers of National Trail Hunting Day – or Smokescreen Saturday, as it has come to be known – has multiple convictions under the Hunting Act.

In a landmark 2012 case, Heythrop huntsman Julian Barnfield pleaded guilty to four counts of illegal hunting on four separate occasions. The Heythrop Hunt Ltd also pleaded guilty to the same charges – the first time a hunt has been convicted as a corporate body. These charges were successfully bought despite the hunt employing aggressive stewards to harass sabs and monitors, with Barnfield himself being filmed calling one peaceful monitor a “fucking old bitch.”

Following his convictions, Barnfield left the Heythrop and now works for the British Hound Sports Association, the discredited pro-hunt lobby group previously known as the Hunting Office. When not putting the finishing touches to the BHSA’s farcical Smokescreen Saturday event, Barnfield enjoys hanging out with fellow fox hunters during their frequent court appearances.

In July, Barnfield was at Norfolk Magistrates Court to support two members of the West Norfolk Foxhounds who were convicted of a particularly stomach-churning case of illegal hunting. CCTV recorded the hounds chasing a fox around a householder’s patio and then ripping her to pieces. In an effort to hide their criminality, the hunters then sent a seedy terrierman onto the property to retrieve the fox’s broken body.

Incredibly, the inept Barnfield and his fellow national organiser Richard Tyacke, have since announced that the West Norfolk Foxhounds would be the ‘host pack’ for the Norfolk ‘trail laying’ event on Smokescreen Saturday!
Just weeks after his trip to Norfolk, Barnfield was at Crewe Magistrates Court, supporting former Cheshire Hounds huntsman Ollie Finnegan as he was found guilty – yet again – of illegal fox hunting. This follows repeat offender Finnegan’s conviction while at the Quorn, where dozens of highly incriminating messages were found on his phone.

An HSA spokesperson commented,

“It should be no surprise that Smokescreen Saturday is being organised by a committed and convicted fox hunter: the whole point of the exercise is to promote the smokescreen of ‘trail hunting’. We trust that any MPs, PCCs or journalists invited to attend this charade will see it for the deception it is. In offering up this sanitised and stage-managed event, the hunters hope to direct attention away from the cruelty and criminality of the real hunting field. It won’t work: Smokescreen Saturday is already a hopeless – and expensive – failure.”