Fox hunters in high court bid
FOX HUNTERS have begun a legal bid to keep protesters away from the Crawley and Horsham Hunt.
Hunt lawyers are asking High Court judge Mr Justice King to give them an injunction under the Protection from Harassment Act.
If granted, the order would ban protesters from thousands of acres of private estate and farm land across West Sussex.
Hunters, backed by the Countryside Alliance and the Masters of Foxhounds Association, say their members and supporters need to be protected from the West Sussex Wildlife Protection Group (WSWPG), particularly key members Simon and Jaine Wilde.
However, WSWPG members say they have been gathering evidence about illegal hunting.
Tim Lawson-Cruttenden, representing the hunt, says its members and supporters have been subjected to trespass and harassment over many months and should now be given the protection of the courts.
He is expected to show Mr Justice King DVD footage of the hunt protesters in action, which he says will help prove his case.
Mr Lawson-Cruttenden said there had been numerous 'acts of nuisance', including incidents when hunt protesters had come on to land used by the hunt wearing balaclavas.
The solicitor advocate is also seeking a ban on protesters gathering around kennels used by the hunt.
"The kennel master and his wife feel very intimidated by the presence of protest activity in the immediate vicinity of their home," he told the judge.
The court heard that the hunt does not object to photographs being taken by the protesters, as long as they are not on its land.
"What they are trying to stop is constant filming, constant surveillance which they say is happening," said Mr Lawson-Cruttenden.
The Hunt also wants to prevent the use of horns and devices which interfere with scent - both can disrupt the activities of hounds - and anything which prevents the hunt from running smoothly.
The hunt insists it has been operating within the law since the ban on hunting with hounds came into force and stresses that it is not seeking to ban objectors from public land, footpaths and highways.
The wildlife group, however, says it has substantial evidence that the hunt has broken the law, despite the hunt's claim that it now sticks to legal forms of the sport such as following a false scent.
Lawyers for the group, and Mr and Mrs Wilde, have already told Mr Justice King that any ban being sought by the hunt is too wide-ranging.
WSWPG describes itself a 'hunt monitor', and says evidence gathered by similar organisations in the past has been instrumental in prosecuting hunts which have failed to abide by the Hunting Act.
The case, due to last five days, continues.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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