Lacock hunt: Two men acquitted over disorder at meeting

Evidence against two men accused of being involved in a scuffle at a hunt meeting was "wafer thin", a judge said as she acquitted them.

Andrew Purbrick, 59, and Adrian Earl, 62, denied using threatening or abusive words or behaviour during disorder in Lacock on 27 December 2021, when pro and anti-hunting groups clashed.

They had acted in self-defence, Swindon Magistrates' Court heard.

District judge Joanna Dickens dismissed the charges against the defendants.

She said it had been for the prosecution to prove the men were not acting in self-defence and, on the evidence, she did not believe this had been done.

"Ultimately, the evidence is pretty thin, wafer thin," Judge Dickens said.

"While there is just about a case to answer, the evidence is wafer thin and it won't get any better, and for those reasons I won't be able to be sure they were not acting in self-defence.

"For those reasons I found both defendants not guilty."

Mr Purbrick, from Westbury, and Mr Earl, of Calne, both in Wiltshire, were arrested after the disturbance outside the Red Lion pub.

The prosecution case centred on a video clip posted on social media which showed pushing, shoving and punches being thrown as the Avon Vale Hunt passed.

Judge Dickens dismissed the charges of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of violence, following applications from lawyers at the close of the prosecution case.

Earlier this year, three hunt supporters were handed fines after pleading guilty to the same public order offence.

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