RSPCA to prosecute Heythrop huntsman
Heythrop huntsman Julian Barnfield is due to appear in Banbury Magistrates Court on 16 September, charged with two offences under the Hunting Act.
The RSPCA is bringing a private prosecution against Mr Barnfield, who has hunted the Gloucestershire pack since 2005.
Hunting Office spokesman Adrian Simpson told H&H: “It is interesting that this case is being brought by the RSPCA rather than the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).”
Mr Barnfield was the first huntsman to have unlawful hunting charges brought against him by the CPS in May 2008. But the charges were dropped in March 2009.
- In other news, the Heythrop is to say a fond farewell to senior joint-master Richard Sumner, who will leave the mastership after 27 years, at the end of the season.
This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (1 September, 2011)
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.