West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs are continuing their campaign against the Warwickshire Hunt and the beginning of this season has shown just what an impact they are having. A representative for WMHS has written about the season so far.
At the end of last season, we exposed the Warwickshire Hunt’s whipper in Jack Weedon and terrier man James White blocking an active badger sett within Wolford Wood, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This season things have continued to go from bad to worse for the hunt as they are haemorrhaging land and with only a few weeks of the main season under their belts, they have already caused chaos for local communities.
Their cubbing season began in early September with immediate tell-tale signs that this is a hunt in trouble. In a desperate attempt to avoid sabs the hunt tried various different tactics, such as trying to sneak back out on a Saturday. They also moved their meet times to try and fool us but to no avail and so we attended meets with placards to ensure that the public were aware that they were hunting fox cubs. It seems that being confronted with the truth clearly rattled hunt member Harry Sawyer who assaulted a female sab and pushed her to the ground.
In October Labour MP Matt Western stood up in Parliament and claimed that Warwickshire PCC Philip Seccombe and ex Chief Constable Debbie Tedds were “supportive” of the Warwickshire Hunt. He claimed there was a “cover-up” and “collusion” which prevented a case of illegal fox hunting by the hunt from going to court. For years we have been campaigning to expose Seccombe’s pro hunting biased and affiliation to the hunting community, and this has culminated in Matt Western continuing to shine a spotlight on the fact that Seccombe has been abusing his position and this has now ultimately resulted in the abolition of PCCs nationally.
On October the 10th Warwickshire Christmas Tree Farm very publicly withdrew consent for the Warwickshire Hunt to use their land. In an email to hunt master Alex Speir, the farm stated that their association to the hunt was becoming detrimental to their business, and therefore they were withdrawing their permission for the use of their land. The business shared a copy of their email on Facebook to ensure that there were no doubts about them severing ties with the hunt.
Another confirmation of loss of land came in November, after the Coventry Diocese released a much-anticipated statement. Last season the hunt hunted a fox on land belonging to the Diocese, and we have been pushing for clarification on their stance ever since. The Diocese were initially, reluctant to answer, however, persistence prevailed when, at the beginning of November, they finally released a statement on their website, declaring that neither fox hunting or trail hunting is permitted on their land.
So, with their land greatly reduced, the Warwickshire Hunt are finding it increasingly difficult to provide a decent day’s hunting for their paying field riders, who are being charged double on Saturday’s. We are witnessing and receiving more and more reports of their continued trespass, and all this stress is clearly taking its toll on the convicted huntsman, Will Goffe who will be retiring at the end of this season due to persistent pressure from WMHS. Rumour also has it that whipper in Jack Weedon will be taking over as huntsman, because, who else would want to join this heavily sabbed and crumbling hunt?
Only recently, on the 8th of November, this pressure resulted in Goffe rushing through the first half of his day and ending up in Brailes far earlier than expected. The hunt subjected the local community to distress and chaos, as they trespassed and allowed lost hounds to spill out onto the road. Goffe, at boiling point, exploded at one of our foot teams, followed by a later incident of swearing and manic laughter.
A recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that the Warwickshire Hunt are continuing to privately meet with the Warwickshire Police. Two of these meetings, which took place towards the end of last season, happened in secret, with no notes or minutes taken. Therefore, there is no transparency or accountability by Warwickshire Police, just more secrets. The police have confirmed that these meetings will continue to take place throughout the 2025/2026 season and that the same officers, either together or singularly have been present at all meetings. No other criminals are afforded this luxury so why is the Warwickshire Hunt?
These cosy meetings are no doubt an opportunity for the hunt to continue lying about their intentions, and to throw false accusations around, while all the time failing to mention their trespass, dangerous road use, anti-social behaviour and illegal hunting. At a time when forces across the country are stretched thin, the Warwickshire Police think it is a good idea to spend taxpayers’ money on private meetings with what one of their own officers exclaimed, is an organised crime group.
The Warwickshire Hunt are in decline. They have reduced the number of days they hunt each week; riders are leaving to neighbouring hunts; they’re losing land hand over fist, the huntsman and whipper in are leaving and now they’re losing the protection of PCC Philip Seccombe. Tempers are flaring, with people like Harry Sawyer driving erratically and blocking roads to try and prevent our sabs from passing, and riders such as Lord Fermoy and John Pritchard trying to push their horses into sabs, while whipper in Jack Weedon recently slammed his horse into a sab on a bridleway.
We will continue to expose the Warwickshire Hunt and to protect wildlife from their depravity. They and the Warwickshire Police need to be held accountable for their actions and we will not stop campaigning not only for the protection of our wildlife but for the protection of our local communities who are continuing to be left at the mercy of the Warwickshire Hunt by Warwickshire Police.
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