Four fined in six years for fox hunting in Sussex (From The Argus)
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Four fined in six years for fox hunting in Sussex
12:00pm Monday 31st October 2011 in News By Kirk Ward
Not a single person was prosecuted in Sussex last year under anti-fox-hunting legislation, it has been revealed.
Campaigners branded the bill “a massive waste of police time” after it was revealed just 33 fines and 11 cautions were handed out across the country in 2010.
Since the ban was introduced in 2005, there have been clashes between pro and anti-hunt campaigners, with police called to incidents involving saboteurs at the Crawley and Horsham Hunt.
The Countryside Alliance claims just four people have been fined under the legislation in Sussex since 2005, all in 2009.
Alice Barnard, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “With the opening meets of the hunting season just around the corner, these statistics are a damning indictment of the expensive and failed Hunting Act.”
Four people accused of illegal fox hunting in Sussex, are due in court on November 10.
Many of Sussex’s Tory MPs would be expected to support overturning the ban, including Bexhill and Battle MP Greg Barker, West Worthing MP Peter Bottomley, and Bognor Regis and Littlehampton MP Nick Gibb, having previously backed the Countryside Alliance’s campaign.
But Hove MP Mike Weatherley, who leads a small group of Conservative parliamentarians opposed to the act’s repeal, said: “The legislation is working.
"There is far less cruelty to foxes than there was before.”
Comments(9)
James Dixon
says...
12:34pm Mon 31 Oct 11
Brighton_Belle
says...
12:39pm Mon 31 Oct 11
m4mt7ah
says...
12:39pm Mon 31 Oct 11
AngelicDevil
says...
2:00pm Mon 31 Oct 11
Brighton_Belle wrote:Precisely!
I might be missing the point here, but if there's only a few people prosecuted then doesn't that mean the law is working and people are obeying it?
One day this ludicrous law will be overturned.
Beethoven
says...
2:00pm Mon 31 Oct 11
It is failed legislation , whether you support it or not.
Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit
says...
2:09pm Mon 31 Oct 11
Brighton_Belle wrote:That's one way of looking at it. It's also possible that the low number of prosecutions is because the police won't/can't enforce it properly.
I might be missing the point here, but if there's only a few people prosecuted then doesn't that mean the law is working and people are obeying it?
Brighton_Belle
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2:27pm Mon 31 Oct 11
AngelicDevil wrote:Erm.... I meant that if the law is working and stopping people from hunting that that was a GOOD thing. I don't support fox hunting.
Brighton_Belle wrote: I might be missing the point here, but if there's only a few people prosecuted then doesn't that mean the law is working and people are obeying it?Precisely! One day this ludicrous law will be overturned.
Thanks, Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit. Now you've said that I wonder if people are simply evading getting caught!
AngelicDevil
says...
5:30pm Mon 31 Oct 11
Brighton_Belle wrote:Erm.......I can agree with your initial statement even though I don't agree with the law, you know.
AngelicDevil wrote:Erm.... I meant that if the law is working and stopping people from hunting that that was a GOOD thing. I don't support fox hunting. Thanks, Jimmy Stewart's Imaginary Rabbit. Now you've said that I wonder if people are simply evading getting caught!Brighton_Belle wrote: I might be missing the point here, but if there's only a few people prosecuted then doesn't that mean the law is working and people are obeying it?Precisely! One day this ludicrous law will be overturned.
There was no bias either way in what you said initially.
Anyhow....
The plebbish sabs should go get themselves something better to do, go hug a tree or something!
NickBrt says...
12:21pm Mon 31 Oct 11