Hunt master claims authorities failing to act despite increase in attacks by masked saboteurs
17 May 2025 3:00pm BST
The Royal Artillery Hunt said it had been the victim of more than 200 incidents since fox hunting was banned in 2004 Credit: John Eccles
The demands of the Royal Artillery Hunt seem simple – they just want law enforcement to treat them like everyone else.
But after years of attacks by masked saboteurs – and an alleged lack of action from authorities despite dozens of police reports detailing harassment, abuse and physical assault – they are beginning to lose hope.
“If what happened to the trail hunting community happened in other walks of life, then people would almost immediately be arrested, but it doesn’t happen with the sabs,” James Harris, a hunt master, told The Telegraph.
For the first time, the hunt has released its record of attacks by saboteurs. It shows that while there have been more than 200 incidents since fox hunting was banned in 2004, the number of cases has increased dramatically in recent years.
Over the course of the two seasons from 2022, a period covering 14 months, there were 103 incidents recorded and 67 police reports. But there was not a single prosecution.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that the start of the spike was the year that Jim McMahon, Labour’s then shadow environment secretary, vowed to ban trail hunting.
Have the political attacks emboldened the activists? “They have upped the ante,” Mr Harris said. “They smell blood.”
He described his hunt as a “prime target”. As a military pack, they hunt a trail on Ministry of Defence (MoD) land, so following them and making complaints to the landowner allows the activists to put pressure on the Government.
“The hunt saboteurs claim to be monitoring trail hunts but that is a misnomer – the clue is in their title,” Mr Harris said. “Their remit is to incite and upset and disrupt our activities.”
He added: “They are continually masked and they claim to the public that that is for their own protection but that is an out-and-out lie.
“We know their names, we know exactly who they are, they are masked because they are constantly breaking the law and with intent to do so. Hiding their identities means that they cannot be prosecuted, that is the true reason why they are masked.”
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A member of the Royal Artillery Hunt is confronted by an activist
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