QUICK NEWS July 2026
- Dorset hunt reaches 18 convictions in 3yr period
- Somerset hunters fail to attend court hearing
- Gloucestershire hunters’ case adjourned
- Dorset hunt trial date set
- Warwickshire hunt trial date set
- Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) documents violence against women
- New HSA affiliations
- Gloucestershire wildlife worker is active hunt supporter
- Stag hunting season imminent
- Action Against Staghunting acts
TOP STORIES
GUILTY
To date, the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt have now clocked up 18 convictions in the last three years, with Fred Ford found guilty of assault by beating at South Somerset Magistrates’ Court . He was fined £660, £650 costs, and a victim surcharge of £264. As is often the case (see ‘HUNT VIOLENCE’, BELOW) his victim was a female saboteur.
COURT NO SHOW
Members of the Mendip Farmers Hunt, Charlie Thomas and Sam Colbourn, failed
to attend Yeovil Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 07/07/26, where they were due to enter a plea to the charge of interfering with a badger sett. The offence occurred on 13/12/25 when hounds allegedly caused the damage to a badger sett
The court hearing has now been adjourned until 1st September.
COURT CASE ADJOURNMENT
The case against Will Bryer, Mitch Prosser, and Anthony Tuck of the Beaufort Hunt relating to a fox kill on 20/12/25 has been adjourned until 05/08/26.
CHARGES
More Blackmore and Sparkford Vale charges, as huntsman George Pierce and whipper-in Ben Summersgill, pleaded not guilty on 24/07/26 to hunting a fox on the 22nd December 2025. The chase was caught on drone by Locals Against The BSV Hunt and saboteurs on the ground. The trial is set for the 14th – 15th April 2027 at Poole Magistrates Court.
West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs report that huntsman William Goffe, recently retired from the Warwickshire Hunt, has been charged with common assault. He has pleaded not guilty. The trial is set for 17/12/26 at Coventry Magistrates’ Court.
HUNT VIOLENCE
Female hunt saboteurs are often targeted and are far too often the victims of hunt violence. The Hunt Saboteurs Association has produced this article
which looks at just some of the violence displayed by hunt members against women who are saboteurs, monitors and other animal activists, trying to prevent violence against our wildlife.
HUNT TRESPASS
77 year-old David Carter, who fired an unloaded paintball gun to deter two quad-riding members of a Hunt from entering his Ipstones Wildlife Sanctuary, has received a suspended sentence. Hounds had already entered the Sanctuary. Carter himself rang the police to report the incident.
NEW HUNT SABS AFFILIATIONS
The Hunt Saboteurs Association has announced the affiliation of the Oxfordshire Hunt Saboteurs, a new sab group.
Formerly named the South Wessex Hunt Saboteurs, the Dorset Border Hunt Sabs have now also joined the HSA .
OTHER NEWS
The Wiltshire Hunt Saboteurs report that Neil Lodge, a supporter of the Beaufort Hunt, is also an employee of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust
STAG HUNTING SEASON
The first stag hunting season of 2026-7 is imminent.
Action Against Staghunting is already underway with campaigns and outreaches in Devon and Somerset. A very successful rally and march in Exeter, where AAS was joined by members of a number of sab groups, members of the public and Protect the Wild, got a lot of attention and support. Special thanks go to the organisers and to North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs.
More on this event here.
