HSA News Release 21st August 2009
Derbyshire Police payout over £37,000 to Hunt Saboteurs
11 Hunt saboteurs from Yorkshire and the Midlands have each received over £3,000 after reaching an out-of-court settlement with the Derbyshire Constabulary following their wrongful arrest in January 2008.
The saboteurs were in attendance on the Meynall and South Staffordshire Fox Hunt when they were arrested under anti-trade union legislation after the police deployed the force helicoptor and dog units. They were held unlawfully for 24 hrs and the 11 were on police bail for several months. As part of the settlement DNA and finerprint evidence is in the process of being removed from police databases.
Hunt Saboteurs were attending the fox hunt in January of last year in order to gain evidence of illegal hunt activities after being tipped off by a member of the public. Fox hunting with hounds was made illegal by parliament in February 2005. However, the Hunting Act has several important loopholes that result in fox hunts around the country continue to chase, torture and kill british wildlife with apparent impunity, whether legally or otherwise. With precious few successful prosecutions and little enthusiasm from the police for enforcing the ban, hunt saboteurs around the country are increasingly the only thing standing between illegal hunters and their quarry.
Sarah Lloyd, from Nottingham, who was one of those arrested said:
I am very pleased with the outcome of our claim. Although the compensation in no way exonerates the police, I hope that they have learnt from their actions. Hunting with hounds is illegal though many hunts are exploiting loopholes in the law to pursue their slaughter in the name of sport. As Hunt Saboteurs we will always intervene using non-violent tactics to save the lives of hunted animals and we will never be deterred by the threat of heavy-handed policing.
The cub-hunting season, where young foxes are targeted in order to help train new hounds, begins in earnest later this month, and until the spring of next year protected animals will be hunted and killed by fox hunts up and down the country in violation of the law.
<h4><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua,Garland,Times New Roman,Times Roman;"><em><span style="color: #c02538;">HSA News Release 21st August 2009</span></em></span></h4>
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<h3><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua,Garland,Times New Roman,Times Roman;"><span style="font-family: Optimist,Arial Black,Helvetica,Lucida;">Derbyshire Police payout over £37,000 to Hunt Saboteurs</span></span></h3>
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<p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">11 Hunt saboteurs from Yorkshire and the Midlands have each received over £3,000 after reaching an out-of-court settlement with the Derbyshire Constabulary following their wrongful arrest in January 2008.<br /><br />The saboteurs were in attendance on the Meynall and South Staffordshire Fox Hunt when they were arrested under anti-trade union legislation after the police deployed the force helicoptor and dog units. They were held unlawfully for 24 hrs and the 11 were on police bail for several months. As part of the settlement DNA and finerprint evidence is in the process of being removed from police databases.<br />
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Last Updated on Sunday, 06 February 2011 14:38 |
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From the archives...
HSA news release 18th December 2003
Saboteurs hope 40th year will be their last Boxing Day protest
Hunt saboteurs will be targeting hunts up and down the country this Boxing Day, which marks the 40th anniversary of the first action by the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA). The sabotage of the South Devon Foxhounds meet at Torquay on Boxing Day 1963 with smoke bombs and hunting horns was such a success that the hunt completely called off the day. Some of the tactics are still in use 40 years on, with hunting horns and mimicry of the huntsman's voice calls still being core activities. A recent innovation has been the "gizmo" - an amplified tape recording of hounds in cry that is used to pull them off the scent of the hunted animal.
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