Isle of Wight hunt face private prosecution by LACS

The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) has launched a private prosecution against four members of the Isle of Wight hunt following a decision by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) not to prosecute.

This is the third private prosecution of a hunt by LACS and relates to an incident in Shepherds Chine in November 2006.

A CPS spokesman told H&H that all the evidence surrounding the incident was thoroughly reviewed and that the CPS met with LACS.

“Our lawyers have noted that this was a very thorough police investigation, but we dropped the case because we didn’t think there was a realistic prospect of conviction,” added the spokesman.

Following the conviction of the Quantock Staghounds, LACS spokesman Barry Hughill told H&H there were more prosecutions “in the pipeline” (news, 14 June).

The men are to appear in court on the Isle of Wight on 2 July.

Meanwhile, Tony Wright, the Exmoor Huntsman last year convicted of hunting a wild mammal with dogs (news, 10 August 2006), will appeal against his prosecution in the week of 9 July at Exeter County Court.

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