NORTH WALES POLICE REFUSED TO CLOSE DOWN AN ILLEGAL GATHERING OF MORE THAN 30 PEOPLE.
Hit report 19/9/20
The Flint and Denbigh hunt met at 3pm for an evening of illegal cub hunting, it was apparent there was a large number of people gathering in a field at Plas Heaton on the Hellan Trefnant border. A quick head count of riders hunt supporters and hunt staff revealed that 41 people were in the fields, and that’s not included other supporters and riders that turned up later. We rang 101 who weren’t very helpful, not even knowing the law on gatherings over 30, we said we need police assistance here in any case as there’s an illegal fox hunt taking place. The hunt started and right from the off this was blatant illegal cub hunting. Riders, hunt supporters and terrier men surrounded a woodland at Plas Heaton estate, the huntsman took the hounds into the woods and was using obvious calls and hollers to disturb any foxes that were in the thick overgrowth, a man was stood in the woodland beating a stick against the floor to try flush out foxes. At this point the police were called for a second time….. When the police turned up they claimed the covid rules around hunting had changed, we pointed out that the rule of 6 they were referring to had nothing to do with Welsh law and gatherings in Wales cannot exceed 30. The police would not go over the hunt and close this illegal event down. Very disappointing but hardly a surprise given North Wales police bias towards the hunt and the harassment we’ve recieved from them. It was pointed out if this was a rave they’d be running over them fields by now, they obviously denied it.
As the hunt moved off they once again surrendered a woodland to try keep the young foxes inside it whilst they sent in the hounds, at this point the hunt flushed a deer and her faun, they ran across the busy A525 a vehicle narrowly missing the baby deer by inches, this caused a further 3 cars to swerve. Just imagine if an accident had been caused by the hunt after the police had refused to stop this illegal gathering! The police had now been called for the 3rd time, this time about the deer on the road.The hunt then put the hounds into a maize field another blatantly obviously tactic of cub hunting. The hunt then headed back in the direction of Plas Heaton. At this point the hounds were in full cry as we approached the woods, riders stood on point around the woodland and quads parked at either end. Shouting could be heard from within the woodland and as a sab approached the fence of the woodland one of the hunts terrier men could be seen on top of a badger sett, the terrier man realised he was being watched he started to walk away, as he did so there was something thrown in the direction of the sab, it banged into a tree that the sab was stood behind, presumably by the sound of it a stick or piece of wood. The riders started to move off finally, but the huntsman put the hounds back into this woodland and they picked up the fox scent once again, we believe they lost the fox on this occasion but not for a lack of trying, the huntsman and the whipper-in both encouraging the hounds to hunt on. The hunt then hunted in a woodland right next to the A525 opposite a cattery, this is an accident waiting to happen. By now we’d seen 2 police cars out but they both seemed to have already left the area. As a sab approached the woodland next to the A525 , the hounds were in frantic cry but now on the otherside of the road, the sab could not get over to the otherside because of a think hedgerow between the sab and the road. With hounds still in cry the sab finally got over to the otherside on the Plas Newydd estate. Once again hounds in cry in thick overgrowth, which is absolutely impossible for anybody to even attempt to lay a trail in (even though we all know they don’t even exist) and riders stood on point surrounding the woodland to keep the foxes inside. The hunt had now managed to flush another deer out right next to the busy main road. As a sab followed the hunt through the woodland terrier men drove their quads around the outside of the woodland. It was now around 7pm and the huntsman finally blew for home after causing enough chaos for the day.
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