Hunt master and assistant guilty of illegal fox chase

A hunt master and assistant have been found guilty of illegally hunting a fox with dogs.

Tom Lyle, 34, and whipper-in Marcus Boundy, 23, were riding with the Portman Hunt near Stourpaine, Dorset, on 15 September 2022, when their hounds picked up a scent, Weymouth magistrates heard.

A drone operated by hunt saboteurs filmed the fox running out of a maize field with the pack of foxhounds in close pursuit, the court heard.

Lyle, of Bryanston, was ordered to pay £1,660 in a fine and court costs, while Boundy, of Exford, Somerset, will pay £810.

Warning: The video below contains scenes that some viewers may find upsetting

In the drone images played in court, the fox ran into a wood closely pursued by dogs, who clambered over each other to cross a barbed wire fence.

Giving evidence, Lyle said the Portman had been on a legal trail hunt, following a fox scent laid by a hunt member.

He said it was normal for a trail to be laid through barbed wire.

Boundy, who was assisting those responsible for controlling the dogs, said he was happy to see them massing at the fence and thought they were following a trail.

However, magistrates said it was "inconceivable that Mr Boundy did not see or hear the hounds in pursuit".

They said Lyle, as master of the Portman and the huntsman in charge of the hounds, would have been told of the fox's presence.

They said no effort was made to call off the hounds.

Magistrates fined Lyle £900 and imposed a £400 fine on Boundy.

On the first day of the trial on Monday, the owner of the land, Mark Pearson, 64, of Little Hanford near Child Okeford, Dorset, was told no evidence would be offered against him.

You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.