ITN Cameraman has to run for life after filming attack on hunt saboteurs

Vegan Betty | 18.02.2005 20:35 | Animal Liberation | Culture

An ITN cameraman had to run for his life to escape with footage of an appalling attack on 8 hunt saboteurs in West Sussex this afternoon (18th February 2005).

On the last day of legal hunting with hounds, a gang of up to 50 Chiddingfold, Leconfield and Cowdray hunt supporters and riders attacked the 8 brave saboteurs who had been trying to stop the hunt killing foxes near Petworth Park, Petworth, West Sussex.

Today was their last chance to legally chase and kill foxes before the hunting ban becomes law at midnight tonight.

Led by well known hunt thugs, including some responsible for attacks on saboteurs and their vehicles in the past, the hunt group ambushed the saboteurs late on in the afternoon beating them with fists, boots and sticks, and stealing cameras and camcorders that had recorded some of the violence.

During the clearly pre-arranged attack (sabs had been tipped off a fortnight ago they were to get 'their beating' last Saturday at the Crawley & Horsham hunt), a female sab was headbutted by a large male hunt supporter and a 63 year old protestor had his glasses smashed when punched in the face.

In a shocking example of how the hunt riders were also involved in the attack, one black coated woman rider shouted at the thugs beating one of the sabs on the ground to "get out of the way, I want to ride over him".

The saboteurs were taken to Chichester Hospital for treatment to their injuries and will be making full statements to the police about the attack.

Contact:
Nathan Brown 07815 313181

Notes for Editors: Pictured below are 2 well known hunt thugs from the Chiddingfold and Crawley & Horsham hunts - the one on the left is Adrian Thompson, the current Chiddingfold huntsman, pictured here during an attack on sabs some years ago (When he was terrierman for the Crawley & Horsham hunt). The one on the right is Wayne Spencer who was blamed for his part in an attack on sabs by Thompson, but was never brought to justice as the police said they couldn't locate him. Spencer was one of the thugs leading the attack on sabs today (18th February).

Vegan Betty
Homepage: http://hsa.enviroweb.org

Comments

Hide the following 15 comments

we all want to know

18.02.2005 21:02

where were the police while this was going on? just as well your son or daughter ain't a sab eh sarge?

- -

If.......When

18.02.2005 21:58

If the GA go hunting and the police do nothing(as they have apparently adopted a maximum Tolerence policy). A precident has been set that the law means nothing. A not to be missed opertunity I think.

Sorry to have to point this out but...

19.02.2005 09:07

BBC online-

Do you welcome the ban on hunting with dogs?
Yes
37%
No
63%
28293 Votes Cast

.. but you won't be reading this. You'll be out getting hurt again somewhere...

qwerty

bloody hell

19.02.2005 09:57

i saw the brief media reports of some trouble but it didn't sound as bad as that. it was on itn website, one of the few to report it.

yikes

Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime

19.02.2005 11:08

Qwerty,

it's a little to see an interest in public opinion on this issue after coming across about the only poll in years, including polls of rural opinion, to oppose a ban on hunting with dogs.

Did you read the bit underneath the BBC Online poll that says:

"Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion"?

You know why it says that? Because these kinds of polls are too obviously flawed to be regarded as a genuine measure of public opinion - which has been solidly in favour of a ban for years.

Meanwhile, as the above pictue shows, animal welfare activists attempting to uphold the new legislation - as promised in the manifestos of an elected government - have been viciously attacked by people dressed up like the Ulster Freedom Fighters and act a lot like it too. I think it's pretty clear who has the strongest democratic credentials here.

Alex Higgins
mail e-mail: respond_alexblog@yahoo.co.uk
Homepage: http://bringontherevolution.blogspot.com

Oh, and guess what...

19.02.2005 11:47

Oh, and in the meantime voting for the BBC's unscientific poll has continued and the results are currently:

Do you welcome the ban on hunting with dogs?
Yes
53%
No
47%

Votes cast: 39383

(Results are indicative and may not reflect public opinion)

So i guess that particular argument of Qwerty's appears to be withering and dying in front of us.

(

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4279065.stm)

Every fox has his day!

Alex Higgins
mail e-mail: respond_alexblog@yahoo.co.uk
Homepage: http://bringontherevolution.blogspot.com

Not a policeman in sight...

19.02.2005 14:26

"You know why it says that? Because these kinds of polls are too obviously flawed to be regarded as a genuine measure of public opinion - which has been solidly in favour of a ban for years."
(yes, and in the next post the figures now seem to support the ban.)

But isn't this a bit like the 75% against the war in Iraq which switched to 75% in favour...

Hmm.

Meanwhile I and hundreds of other townfolk in Thame cheered the hunt as it rode through at midday today.

I'll upload the great pix if you like!! You won't find a copper in any of 'em!!

qwerty (who has attended ALL the recent anti-war protests btw)

qwerty

more trolls

19.02.2005 16:09

attended all the anti-war demos - yeh probably in ( your police ) uniform eh you little wanker.

ps. 99% statistics tell us that statistics are rubbish. BBC online poll? Fuck who does that then? The BBC is part of the state propaganda machine!!!!PS fancy a kicking?

your statistics mean shit

Opinion Polls

20.02.2005 13:13

Qwerty, go and have a look at some MORI polls, one from November 2003 concluded that less than 40% of rural dwellers are either against the ban, or don't give a toss eitherway. Slightly more reliable than BBC internet poll too!

Bob

What change ?

20.02.2005 16:25

What law ? What change ?

I feared the law would stop us hunting, it did nothing. I hunted yesterday as did all my friends. The Police have told us we need not fear them, no intention to prosecute, no chance of a crminal record.

If this is defeat I like it !

Hunter

...

20.02.2005 19:57

Hey hunter, you're going down!!!

It may take a while for the law to become enforced...but it will. Good for you, enjoying tearing a defenseless animal apart. What a rubbish passtime. Go tear the legs of daddy long-legs or something, or go kick a puppy. I'm just happy I don't, like you, get my enjoyment poncing around in a red coat torturing animals.

Hermes

Vry pleased

20.02.2005 21:10

>>>

You don't get it do you boy, Saturday was the day when the future for Hunting was decided, if the Police had decided to enforce the law with a massive presense and action we would have had nowhere to go, but (and it's such a big but) we were given a green light, a nod and a wink, a stroke of the nose with no questions asked.

The CA won because it played the game, it used the rules, we were all briefed and prepared. You lost, you lost on saturday but more than that you lost the war. We will continue to hunt and now the rules are set there is nothing you can do to stop us.

We Fucking won !!!!!

Hunter

What a fuss

20.02.2005 21:45

Oh crikey.... People get beaten up every day, especially people who have hatred for eachother. To then inflate this with ridiculous emotive and stereotyping language asserting that a whole group in society 'must' be as bad as it's wrongdoers is nothing short of idle prejudice and serves the aims of the 'antis' poorly and also makes them look like foul mouthed idiots.

I went to the hunt at Badminton to see for myself what all this is about and am making a film of what I saw. I invited (short notice) people from local sab groups to come and perhaps interview hunters but recieved no reply....????

Zaskar
mail e-mail: markdwatson@blueyonder.co.uk
Homepage: http://www.zaskarfilms.com

Don't make me laugh

23.02.2005 13:25

Hunter, ever heard the phase "won the battle but not the war"?

Yeah, sure, some hunts got away with hunting on saturday - As far as i'm concerned I was never expecting arrests or the ban to be tightly enforced on saturday. It was a show day, a one off and no reasonable person would expect the police to try to over power the 700-odd people who attended the meet I went too (where they didn't hunt). But when all this controversy has died down, and meets go back to their regular form do you honestly believe that hunting will be able to survive? It's a grey area at the moment and because it's a difficult issue with a new law just being introduced the authorities are obviously being softly softly.

With all the fuss that the countryside alliance made about defying the man, and all that decleration day crap i was a little disappointed to be honest. With the ammount of active support you have, and the ammount of hot air the hunting fraternity makes, and of course, all your support from those in power and the police, why did so many hunts actually stay with in the law?

This isn't the end yet mate, not by a long shot, but it is the beginning of the end for hunting.

Bob

zaskar - just stick to Bristol imc eh?

02.03.2005 01:39

How very nice for you that you made an 'impartial' film on hunting in Britain.

..pity no sabs turned up as you requested them to (local sabs were most probably 'out in the field saving lives' instead of answering to your whimsical call)

I watched a bit of your crappy hunt film, the one with the classical music dubbed over the charging hunt scum leaving the manor. How grande it made them out to be, and how English!

..You know where you can stick your camera ;)

Anti-Z