Warwickshire Hunt’s whipper-in Benjamin Halsall, 24, from Shipston, ordered to pay £2,000 over killing of fox

Warwickshire Hunt’s whipper-in Benjamin Halsall, 24, from Shipston-on-Stour, has been found guilty of killing a fox.

Coventry Magistrates Court was shown video footage of an incident 9th October 2023 around Idlicote where a pack of hounds attacked a fox which had broken cover.

One of the whipper-in’s jobs is to be the ‘eyes and the ears’ of the hunt. Mr Hassall was on horseback and apparently his duties as lookout included ensuring the hounds did not give chase if a wild animal broke cover. However in this instance, it was heard, that Mr Halsall made no effort to distract the hounds from the fleeing fox.

The video shown in court was taken by Rebecca Forrester from Three Counties Hunt Sabateurs - it records her trying to get between the fox and the hounds but to no avail, and the fox was instantly torn apart.

Today District Judge David Murray Mr Halsall guilty after a short trial, and gave a fine of £2,000 - which includes £1,000 fine and £1,000 in costs.

Warwickshire Hunt had faced the same charges as Mr Halsall but was aquited.

Assistant Chief Constable Claire Armes said: “Last year communities across Warwickshire and the country were deeply saddened when they saw a video on social media showing illegal fox hunting.

“Officers from our Rural Crime Team worked incredibly hard to gather evidence to build up a robust case to put to the courts.

“And in Coventry Magistrates Court today all that hard work came to fruition when Benjamin Halsall, was convicted.”

National animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports said it welcomed the conviction, however the charity took the opportunity to call for stronger fox hunting laws and jail sentences for those convicted of fox hunting.

Video of fox being killed at Idlicote:

Chief executive Emma Slawinski said: “We welcome this conviction of the Warwickshire Hunt whipper-in which resulted from footage showing them brutally chasing and killing a fox despite the ban.

“This conviction highlights how the so-called trail hunting excuse being used by hunts is a smokescreen being used to conceal old fashioned barbaric hunting from the public, police, and courts.

“The time for change is now and the government should announce a timetable for when it will ban trail hunting, remove the exemptions in the Hunting Act being exploited by hunts, and introduce custodial sentences to act as a deterrent for those that would break the law.”