Evidence is given in landmark hunting case

Aug 13 2009 By Brian Daniel, The Journal

A NORTHUMBERLAND huntsman has gone on trial for illegal hunting, in the first case of its kind in the region.

Robert McCarthy, part of the Alnwick based Percy Hunt, appeared at South East Northumberland magistrates court to face a charge under the controversial Hunting Act 2004 – becoming the first huntsman to be prosecuted in the Northumbria Police area since hunting was banned.

McCarthy, 35, of The Kennels, Canongate, Alnwick, is pleading not guilty to an allegation that he hunted a wild mammal with a dog.

District Judge Stephen Earl heard that Sonia Redpath and her mother Lynne Peachey saw McCarthy on horseback chasing a fox with dogs beside Mrs Redpath’s Golden Hill home at New Bradford Kairns, Belford, on November 12 last year.

Mrs Redpath told the Bedlington court how she was outside her home when she saw a fox which appeared to be "panicking" and "extremely frightened" weaving alongside a fence. The witness, questioned by prosecutor Jonathan Moore, recalled how she then heard the sound of horns, dogs and a galloping horse.