This appendix is intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive. There are many other hunts and many other areas of the country where saboteurs have been beaten up or ill-treated by security and hunt stewards abusing their powers. These cases provide only a sample of the various different types of abuse saboteurs have encountered.
Some of these cases have been tried by courts and are hence a matter of public record. Alas, all too many have never reached court. In all cases, the evidence given here has been compiled from statements provided by victims and witnesses. The names of witnesses have been omitted to protect them from possible reprisals.
A large group of men recruited locally by the hunt to act as stewards, consisting mainly of nightclub bouncers from Reading, mount a series of attacks on saboteurs throughout the day. One was beaten badly round the head with a stick, another thrown to the ground and kicked in the head. The most serious assault came when a woman was beaten around the head with a large lump of wood by one of the stewards. Having left her lying unconscious in a pool of blood, the steward then punched the hunt's vice-chairman in the face when he opined that this was going too far. After the woman had been taken to hospital by ambulance, police arrested the steward.
Twenty stewards backed up by hunt followers attacked saboteurs with a variety of weapons including iron bars. Police officers stood by as the sustained attack took place, refusing either to intervene to prevent it or to arrest any of those involved afterwards. Two saboteurs were treated at Crewe Hospital as a result of the vicious assault: one suffered two black eyes, a broken nose and multiple bruising; the other sustained a broken jaw.
About 20 Countrywatch security employees arrived at the hunt roughly half an hour after it had started. They explained to sabs they were late because "we expected you at the Cattistock [Foxhunt] and had a 'reception' all laid on for you". Shortly after a group of saboteurs walking along a bridleway were targeted by security who drove their vehicles at them, then got out brandishing weapons, threatening to use them "if you don't fuck off now". The saboteurs returned to their van, only to find the security had blocked it in on the B3143, surrounding it with vehicles. By now very frightened, the saboteurs attempted to call the police from a public phone box. It was promptly surrounded by security who attempted to smash their way in with sticks and then dragged the saboteur out of the phone box and beat another saboteur standing nearby with sticks. Fortunately, the saboteur had been able to contact the police before being dragged out of the phone box and they arrived shortly after. They appeared almost as intimidated as the saboteurs, and advised them "not to get isolated" for their own safety. The police clearly felt that should the saboteurs be attacked they would not be able to help them much. Fortunately, the rest of the day passed without any serious attacks on saboteurs, largely due to the presence of the police. One of the main protagonists of the day's violence was Paul Martin, soon to face charges of Actual Bodily Harm arising from another day when the same group of stewards attacked saboteurs.
David Dunn, head of Countrywatch, organised a mixed group of about thirty stewards: some were his own private security employees in their trademark paramilitary brownshirt uniforms; others were locally recruited heavies. The stewards spent the day attacking and threatening saboteurs. As saboteurs were driving along the A352, the stewards threw a brick at the windscreen which fortunately missed. Later in the day, three Countrywatch brownshirts attacked two saboteurs on a footpath, punching one in the face. The host of the meet was seen loading up his Land Rover, used to transport stewards, with pitch forks and baseball bats.
The most disgraceful incident of the day came as the hunt were packing up. A local resident, well-known for her anti-hunt views, was attacked in her garden by stewards who kicked and beat her. David Dunn, presumably fearful of the public reaction if it became known his employees were not just attacking saboteurs but also beating up middle-aged women on their own property, posed as a police officer trying to "sort it all out". When she refused to talk to him about quietly letting the matter drop, as she suspected (correctly) he was not a police officer but was in fact linked to the men who had attacked her, he tried to force his way into her home, insisting she had to let him in as he was a police officer. He continued to use a mixture of threats and intimidation to try and persuade her to "forget" about the attack on her.
She reported the assault, David Dunn's attempt to force his way into her home and his threats and impersonation of a police officer in an attempt to pervert the course of justice, to Dorset police. To date, no action has been taken.
A lone female saboteur was attempting to divert hounds from a fox they were pursuing when she was forced to the ground by five stewards. The stewards' "team leader" shouted "you're under arrest" to which she pointed out that they had no powers of arrest under those circumstances. To confirm this, the police arrived shortly after and ordered the stewards to let her go. They took no action over the woman's complaint that she had obviously been assaulted or indeed over the matter of impersonating a police officer.
Saboteurs walking along a public bridleway near the village were approached by a group of about 15 stewards who attempted to prevent them using the bridleway. When saboteurs argued that this was a public right of way, they were attacked by the stewards who forced some off the bridleway and pinned others to the floor. One saboteur who was being dragged along the bridleway by two stewards grabbed hold of a tree at the side of the path in an attempt to prevent them dragging him off. The stewards grabbed his left arm and forced his thumb back until it cracked, breaking it in several places. The stewards deliberately broke his thumb to weaken his resistance and force him to comply with them evicting him from a public right of way, in itself illegal. The saboteur needed a splint for eight weeks following the attack and lost a contract worth £2,000 as a result. He complained to police on the scene but they refused to take any action in what was essentially a case of grievous bodily harm carried out under their very noses.
Saboteurs were calling hounds off a fox when stewards "ambushed" them, running out from a position in cover to attack the saboteurs. One assault was particularly serious. Two stewards grabbed a saboteur from behind, one immobilising him with a stranglehold while the second forced him to the ground. He hit the ground with some force and the second steward then jumped on him as he lay on the ground, landing with full force on his upper body. The saboteur's head was smashed into the concrete ground and he was knocked unconscious. The police refused to help, insisting the saboteur was "faking". After ten minutes of argument they allowed another saboteur to attempt to speak to him; only then was an ambulance called. The saboteur had to wear a neck brace for a month following the attack for which the police have taken no action.argument they allowed another saboteur to attempt to speak to him; only then was an ambulance called. The saboteur had to wear a neck brace for a month following the attack for which the police have taken no action.
Following a series of meets where stewards had denied access to public rights of way, saboteurs decided to test if there was a policy of systematically illegally blocking public rights of way, or if it was just applied at specific times when the hunt were nearby. They walked up a footpath some distance from the hunt and in the opposite direction from the hunt. A team of stewards, backed up by police, immediately moved in to block the footpath. A police inspector threatened the saboteurs with arrest if they proceeded along the footpath, despite the fact that the hunt were nowhere in the vicinity and saboteurs had left their horns, sprays etc. in their vehicles. He refused to give any reason for his arbitrarily closing off a public right of way and reiterated his threat of arrest. Six female saboteurs who attempted to proceed along the path were pounced on by stewards who dragged them back to the road, even though they offered no resistance, injuring two of them. One of the women received medical treatment for a badly sprained wrist and made a formal complaint of assault to the police. Two weeks later she received a letter saying no action was to be taken.
Three women saboteurs were standing in a field, not interfering with the hunt when they were approached by a group of stewards. One of them, James Purser, began hurling abuse and shoving a young girl. Another woman asked him to leave her alone and he then turned on her, attempting to punch her in the face. His punch was blocked by the third woman. He then pushed the second woman over and deliberately smashed her head into the ground. Purser's father, Graham, then attacked the third woman, punching her in the chest and knocking her to the ground. She suffered concussion as a result. Other saboteurs then attempted to come to the rescue of the women, only to be moved away and arrested by police who did not attempt to do anything about the assaults on the three women. Graham Purser justified his involvement in the attack on the three women by claiming he was afraid for his son's life. Both he and his son are of similar build - over 6 foot tall and weighing about 15 stone. The women are all round 5 foot tall and weigh under 8 stone.
A number of protesters attempted to stage a peaceful banner demonstration at the hunt's point-to-point meeting to highlight the fact that such events are not just ordinary race meetings but are used to fund foxhunting. Some 15 protesters walked along a public footpath leading to a public road at the entrance of the event where they intended to hold a banner and distribute leaflets. They were confronted by a group of stewards who "immediately waded straight in". The stewards proceeded to attack the protesters before they had even begun their protest, to remove them from a public road. One protester was karate-kicked in the face by a steward in front of watching police officers. He was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital by ambulance. Another protester, a research scientist, was grabbed round the throat by a steward who then squeezed his windpipe in a concerted effort to throttle him. Three other stewards joined the initial assailant and surrounded the protester, knocking his glasses off and forcing him to the floor, and then kneeing him in the face. They then left him rolling in agony on the floor, his jaw so badly injured that he was unable to speak or even close his mouth. He was treated by the ambulance crew and after making a complaint to police on the scene was taken to hospital.
These are just two of several assaults carried out by stewards on peaceful protesters on a public highway in front of a large group of police officers who made no attempt to intervene. The sole purpose of the assaults was to prevent a lawful protest by opponents of hunting taking place.
Saboteurs were standing by their van which was parked on a public road. They were approached by six stewards, shouting abuse and threats. One of the stewards, James Purser, head-butted a saboteur in the face as he stood at the side of the road. Another ran towards the van carrying a large rock and shouted to a saboteur standing on the road that he was going to "sort the van out once and for all". She shouted to the driver of the van to drive off but the van could not get away quickly enough. The steward with the rock threw it at the van and then he and another steward, Steven Page, climbed into the van attacking the two women inside and ripping out a tape recorder/player. James Purser grabbed the tape player from Steven Page and smashed it to pieces on the ground.
A female saboteur found herself alone in a field with a number of hunt supporters and two police officers who were some fifty yards away. She heard people behind her and turned to see two employees of Estate Management Services [the security firm employed to "deal with" protesters during the beagling festival] running towards her. As they were both fit and heavily built she did not attempt to run away and just stood waiting for them to escort her back to the road. To her astonishment, they threw her to the ground and then shouted that she should leave. She protested that she could not leave unless they let her get up and one of the security men picked her up by the hair before throwing her back to the ground. A PC Dawson, who was operating the police video camera, ambled over but did not attempt to intervene. By this time, the woman was pinned face down to the ground with one of the security men sitting on her back. The other said "You like to eat shit, don't you?" and forced a large handful of sheep dung into her mouth, smearing it across her face. She pleaded with PC Dawson and the other officer to intervene but they refused. She then sat on the ground and cried, shaking with fear and anger. After a short while she asked the officers, for their names and numbers but they refused to tell her and radioed for another security man who arrived on a quad bike and held her arm in a painful grip, "towing" her behind the vehicle for half a mile to the road. She was told that if she didn't keep up with the bike, he would drag her along. The police took no action over any of these various assaults or against their officers who had refused to help the victim of a nasty assault.
Hunt steward Richard Cheshire began leading a Northants saboteur off land. The saboteur was walking peacefully away when a quad bike, driven by hunt terrierman Michael Smith appeared. Smith swerved the bike at the saboteur and Cheshire turned and deliberately pushed him into the path of the vehicle, which hit him at some speed. He was treated on the spot by a paramedic and taken to hospital by ambulance. Police on the scene declined to arrest either Cheshire or Smith, although both were subsequently convicted of ABH and jailed for two months. The saboteur was still receiving physiotherapy for his injuries some time after Cheshire and Smith were released in July.
Despite the hunt's supposed abhorrence of violence, they had employed Cheshire as a steward, knowing of his track record of violence against protesters for which he had a previous criminal conviction (see main text) and welcomed both Cheshire and Smith back upon their release. A party was held for them, Cheshire still rides with the hunt regularly and continues to threaten protesters, while Smith's job as terrierman and the house that goes with it were held open for him.
Saboteurs were attacked by 20 employees of the private security firm Countrywatch, in their trademark paramilitary brownshirt uniforms. One saboteur was punched in the face by a security employee trying to steal his hunting horn, several saboteurs were pinned to the ground and beaten up. A saboteur with a video camera was threatened by several security employees who tried to smash the camera, including David Dunn, head of the company and responsible for the good behaviour of his employees. When police finally arrived they split the two sides, pulling several people out to do so. While one saboteur was being held by a police officer attempting to stop the scuffles, he was punched in the face by a security employee. No action was taken against any of the assailants.
Saboteurs were confronted by six stewards from EMS security who carried out a series of violent assaults against saboteurs on footpaths throughout the day. At one point they violently removed saboteurs from land on which not only did they have no authority to act as agents of the landowner but from which the hunt itself was actually banned. In this instance, it was the security not the saboteurs who were trespassers, yet the police seemed happy for the security to remove saboteurs with what was in any case excessive force.
Several of the security boasted they were in the army and police later confirmed they were in fact Grenadier Guards.
Shortly after the start of the day's hunting, Dorking police searched a vehicle belonging to Countrywatch security and confiscated a "small armoury" of weapons, including lead piping, billiard cues, pickaxe handles, high-powered catapults, and a stun gun.A mixed group of Countrywatch employees and men hired locally added up to about 70 stewards all told, on what became an exceptionally violent day. Nine saboteurs walking up a footpath accompanied by police officers and 8 stewards had a quad bike driven at them. This appeared to be the signal for a general assault as the other stewards then began knocking them to the ground and hitting them to prevent them going any further up the path. Obviously concerned that such blatant assaults should not be filmed, huntsman and joint master of the hunt, John Funnell (who himself has a criminal record for assaulting protesters) shouted "Get the camera, smash the fucking camera". Three stewards obediently leapt to obey his order, and the two saboteurs with the video camera were punched and hit as the stewards snatched it off them and smashed it on the ground. Two police officers intervened and one was punched in the face by a steward who was later arrested for assault on a police officer. Another steward involved in this incident was later arrested for criminal damage to the video camera, worth some £695.00. Neither were prosecuted. Following this incident, the culmination of a day of attacks on saboteurs and scuffles on footpaths, the police ordered the hunt to abandon the day's hunting due to the violence of their stewards.
Saboteurs were crossing a field in a drawn-out line to get back to a footpath (i.e., although they were technically trespassing they were trying to get off private land to a public right of way), when the last two in the group were set upon by four stewards. One of their colleagues saw the attack and called out to the rest of the group, particularly the man with the video, to come back. As he approached he was punched in the face by an Irish Guard acting as a steward. The blow knocked him to the ground and as he tried to get up, another steward used one of the two-way radios issued to the stewards by the hunt to club him around the head, splitting his head open. The steward then kicked him in the groin and began kicking him about the head and body as he rolled around the floor to try and avoid the sustained attack. When the steward grew bored of the attack, the saboteur was led back to the road by two female members of the group where he reported the attack to the police. As he was being taken to hospital by ambulance, the stewards surrounded the vehicle, beating it with their fists and cheering. He was given stitches in wounds to his head and eye at Chichester hospital and then went to Chichester police station to make a statement. Some three months later he was informed that no action was to be taken against the soldier who had beaten him up.
Employees of RKR Security, acting in concert with the hunt's own stewards, set about saboteurs with an array of weapons including staves, axe handles and iron bars, and then attempted to wreck their Land Rover. The attack came after they had been warned by police to calm down and one of the stewards was warned "you're not going to do anything" by an officer who had heard him shout "I'm going to fucking kill you" at saboteurs.
The security men had been transported to the scene in a hunt Land Rover and shortly before launching the attack had got the weapons out of the vehicle on the orders of the hunt's stewarding coordinator, Nick Fawcett, a former master of the Surrey Union Foxhunt. Whether the ensuing attack was at Mr Fawcett's behest is unknown but it is difficult to imagine any legitimate reason for ordering "security" operatives to arm themselves before confronting saboteurs. RKR employees, some of whom have criminal convictions for violence, then joined with hunt stewards in a vicious assault on saboteurs during which one man was beaten repeatedly in the ribs with an axe handle, others were attacked with staves, one man was punched in the head, and all the windows of the saboteurs' vehicle were smashed. One of the stewards, Simon Palmer, who also acts as a terrierman for the Surrey Union Foxhunt, was convicted of criminal damage and assault at Chichester Magistrates' Court on 20th September 1994. No members of RKR security were charged with any offence, despite their obvious role in the assault. When the firm's head, Richard Huntley, gave evidence that "my men are not instructed to use weapons and would never do so", the stipendiary magistrate hearing the case pointed out that there was both video and photographic evidence of them doing just that and described Mr Huntley's evidence as "disingenuous". He was also scathing about the hunt's role, saying "at least one member of the hunt [Nick Fawcett] asked for potentially offensive weapons to be unloaded from this vehicle, a matter I find deplorable."
Some 25 saboteurs parked on a road near to where the shoot was believed to be taking place and attempted to walk up a track to the moors. About 15 security men who had arrived in two Land Rovers formed a line behind a dry-stone wall at the start of the track. Some of the security men were also climbing on top of the saboteurs' two vehicles, presumably to intimidate the occupants. A saboteur who attempted to climb over the wall was attacked by three security men who pushed him off the wall with excessive force. In the fall his hand was ripped on a barbed wire fence and he landed hard. His hand was streaming with blood and his wrist had been fractured. He returned to the road, feeling somewhat dizzy and other saboteurs dressed the wound which looked as though it would need stitches. By this time, the police had arrived and an officer approached him to ask how he had sustained the wound. He explained he had been pushed off a wall by the security men and thought he would need stitches. The officer was not interested in the assault and instead arrested the saboteur, taking him to Skipton police station. At about 5.15 he asked for a doctor to look at his wound and his wrist
Saboteurs travelling on a public road toward a shoot had their vehicles blocked in by members of the shoot and employees of a private security firm employed by the shoot. The driver of one of the vehicles being used in this illegal road block threatened a saboteur with a hammer. The security team, armed with heavy sticks and cudgels, then moved in against the saboteurs, many of whom had got out of their vehicles to see what was happening. The "team leader", Simon Longworth, who has been responsible for many of the security operations at hunts in the North of England, swung his stick at a female saboteur, attempting to hit her around the head. Another woman attempted to photograph him and then took pictures of other security operatives nearby who were also wielding sticks. She then turned back to the "team leader" and attempted to get another photograph of him. He stepped towards her and punched her in the face, knocking her to the ground. She lost a tooth and sustained nasty injuries to her upper lip which was split inside and out. Longworth was arrested and is currently on police bail.
Two female saboteurs were confronted by seven car-loads of stewards organised by Simon Longworth, Master of the hunt. They were bullied, threatened and assaulted on footpaths and one of the stewards attacked one of the women and stole her hunting horn. Eventually, they were forced to leave the hunt as although the level of physical violence actually used was fairly low up to that point, the threat of serious violence was very real and the attitude of the stewards unbearably intimidating.