HUNTING activity which breaks the law in Warwickshire will be prosecuted say police chiefs as they new season gets underway.
Warwickshire Police’s new code of conduct for trail hunting – a legal but controversial alternative to fox hunting that involves laying a scent trail and tracking it with hounds – states a hunt must be stopped if it goes off the agreed route.
It also prohibits hunters or protestors from trespassing or blocking public roads, and states any ‘accidental kills’ must be immediately reported to police.
Warwickshire Police Dep Ch Con David Gardner said: “The code sets out policing expectations and replaces the historical hunt protocol.
“Where enforcement of the law is required, we have criminal and civil measures at our disposal and will use them where required. Court proceedings are currently active which show this.
“Complaints relating to anti-social behaviour or criminality regarding hunting or use of highways will be passed on to the appropriate specialist team to investigate.
“We acknowledge the strength of feeling from all parties and commit to continue to update as the trail hunting season progresses.”
A spokesperson from the Hunt Saboteurs Association said the code of conduct created a ‘false narrative’ to give the Warwickshire Hunt a ‘get out clause to carry on hunting with no consequences’.
They added: “What we’re seeing here is police bias towards the hunt, with a largely unsuccessful attempt to mask it.
“It is the latest attempt to give the hunt free reign to ignore the law, and it even attempts to imply hunt saboteurs are part of the problem when the evidence, and the reported incidents, are all of the hunt causing nuisance and distress to local residents and road users, never the saboteurs.”
An independent review is underway into Warwickshire Police’s handling of hunting activity in the county.
It follows earlier controversy over a ‘secret’ deal between the force and Warwickshire Hunt which sparked widespread anger.
The private arrangement, which was only known to a few senior police and Warwickshire Hunt, led to concerns about whether policing was following due process.
A flood of complaints led to police serving a community protection notice (CPN) on the hunt in December 2022 – meaning the hunt had to let the police know where and when they crossed main roads, and that breaching the conditions would amount to a criminal offence.
But the hunt appealed the CPN and, as the court date approached, the court case disappeared after the protocol was agreed.
The hunt claimed it was not a private deal but an out-of-court settlement, while police said the protocol was more wide-reaching than anything the CPN originally stipulated.
The force subsequently published the code of conduct for the current hunting season.
The findings of the review are expected to be published later this autumn.
Labour pledged to ban trail hunting in its pre-election manifesto, although no legislation has yet been passed.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/bdfdv3ft to read the full Code of Conduct.
Call police on 101 or visit www.warwickshire.police.uk/ro/report to report incidents involving hunting.
