MFHA director ‘guilty of encouraging illegal hunts’

As hunt saboteurs revel in the conviction, the sport’s governing body accepts it is ‘hugely disappointing’ and considers whether to appeal

The sentencing of Mark Hankinson took place last week, with Westminster Magistrates’ Court handing out a £1,000 fine to the director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA).

A guilty verdict was delivered in September in a damaging blow to the credibility of one of the UK’S most senior hunting advocates. He was found guilty of intentionally encouraging huntsmen to use legal trail hunting as “a sham and a fiction” for the unlawful chasing and killing of animals, and ordered to pay a £1,000 fine and £2,500 costs.

The MFHA responded immediately to the sentence with a statement that suggested an appeal may be launched.

“This verdict is hugely disappointing; however, we are considering an appeal,” said MFHA chairman Andrew Osborne. “The Masters of Foxhounds Association is aware that this outcome raises concern over the perception of our lawful trail hunting activities and, as a result, we will be setting up a review that will be conducted to ensure that hunts are in a position to offer reassurances to all landowners and other stakeholders that hunts are operating within the law.”

The three-day trial had centred on video footage captured online during two webinars, virtually attended by more than 100 senior hunting enthusiasts, in which Hankinson said: “If you’ve got saboteurs out with you in any shape or form we need to have clear, visible, plausible trail laying being done throughout the day. It’s a lot easier to create a smokescreen if you’ve got more than one traillayer operating.”

While the prosecution argued that Hankinson was clearly giving advice on how to avoid the law, his defence claimed he was merely proposing false trails to misdirect hunt saboteurs while other legal trail-hunting activities took place.

Judge Tan Ikram summed up the case, saying that Hankinson’s words during the webinar were “clearly advice and encouragement to commit the offence of hunting a wild mammal with a dog. I am sure he intended to encourage the commission of that offence”.

Hankinson’s offence came to light when anti-hunting groups posted the video footage of him online.

A delighted Hunt Saboteurs Association spokesman said: “Judge Ikram saw through it all. In a withering assessment of Hankinson’s attempts to explain away his lies, Judge Ikram

‘simply did not find him credible in any of his explanations of the words he used’.”

“This raises concern over the perception of lawful hunting”

xx wants local recreational stalkers to be given a leading role in managing deer on Scotland’s public land Mark Hankinson leaves the court after being found guilty of giving advice on ‘how to avoid the law’