Park and Kirkham were part of a ten-strong gang of hunt thugs, armed with pickaxe handles and coshes, who smashed up a saboteurs' van and beat up the occupants.On the day in question, Cheshire Police had arrested all the occupants of the van, about a dozen saboteurs, ôto prevent a breach of the peaceö, a common tactic in Cheshire when anti-hunt protesters have committed no offence but the police want to ôinternö them for the duration of the hunt. It is, of course, completely illegal, but such niceties have never bothered Cheshire Police when it comes to dealing with hunt saboteurs. Astonishingly the police refused to move the saboteurs' vehicle but instead left it parked in the middle of very hostile hunt supporters at Faddiley, near Nantwich, saying they would ensure it was safe. All those arrested were released without charge at the end of the hunting day and returned to the van about 6.15 p.m. to find it had been so badly vandalised it eventually had to be written off ù the windscreen had been put through, extensive damage was caused to the side panels and doors, and several tyres were slashed, over ú1,000 worth of damage in total.
Saboteurs rang the AA, but while they were waiting for a truck to come out, the hunt thugs, armed with pickaxe handles and coshes, returned to finished the job. This time the ten-strong gang were able to attack not just the van but also its occupants. A 24-year old woman attempted to run for help but was cornered by the gang, punched to the ground by Kirkham, and then kicked and beaten about the head and body as she lay on the floor helpless. She sustained two black eyes, damaged kidneys, and extensive cuts and bruising to her head and body in the vicious attack. The gang then dragged her back to the van and resumed their attack on the van, jumping on the roof and causing further damage to the exterior. While his friends were occupied in trashing the vehicle, Park climbed inside the van and beat up several of the occupants with a cosh.
Kirkham had already shown his propensity for brutal violence against saboteurs, in particular on Boxing Day 1992, when the Cheshire Beagles met at The Poacher in Bickerton near Kirkham's farm. He beat a woman unconscious with a piece of wood and left her lying unconscious in a stream, where she had to be rescued by her fellow saboteurs, who called an ambulance. Her injuries were so severe she had to be airlifted to hospital by a helicopter yet police refused to arrest Kirkham. When her fellow sabs went to Nantwich police station to make statements identifying Kirkham as the culprit they were themselves arrested. Conveniently, all charges were dropped before the case reached court and no-one was ever prosecuted.
Despite these sentences, it is doubtful whether hunt thugs in Cheshire will be deterred from violent attacks on saboteurs: Kirkham certainly has not learnt any sort of lesson from his conviction. He was arrested at the Cheshire Hunt only yesterday after he rammed two saboteurs' vehicles and then rammed a car belonging to a passer-by who was not connected with the hunt or protesters. And this the day before he was to appear in court to be sentenced for one of his many other violent attacks on saboteurs! In another of several violent attacks on saboteurs at the Cheshire Hunt yesterday, a hunt supporter was arrested for threatening a saboteur with an axe.
It seems that thugs in Cheshire think they can have a free hand in attacking anyone who objects to hunting: the police must take firm action to crack down on these hooligans before someone else is killed in Cheshire.
Saboteurs are also calling on Prince Charles, who was hunting with the Cheshire as recently as last week, to stop endorsing this extremely violent hunt by refusing to ride with them until they cease attacking anyone who disagrees with them and expel the violent lunatics within their ranks such as Kirkham and Park.
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