Mark Doggrell huntmaster of the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale hunt has evaded prosecution for a second time. Last month he appeared in Court on a GBH charge when he ran over a hunt saboteur whilst driving his horse at 15 miles an hour. Despite video evidence the jury did not find him guilty and believed the story that Mark was “cantering to gather the hounds”.
This week the Dorset hunt saboteur group released yet another video of Mark Doggrell from our perspective, breaking the law. The video was taken on the 23rd January at Cornford Hill Farm, Hollwell Near Sherborne. The video shows a fox crossing a road and going into a field being pursued by Mark Doggrell urging the hounds to chase the scent using horn calls. Hounds chased after the line of the fox and one hound even gets caught in the barbed wire fencing giving chase. The Dorset Hunt saboteur group handed video footage to the police who passed it to the CPS .
The CPS failed to press any charges stating that there was no evidence that Mark Doggrell had control over the hounds at the time.
However, prosecutions for hare coursing and deer poaching seem to be on the rise which are put for prosecution by the CPS but prosecuting hunts is altogether more costly due to their legal representation ( supplied by the Countryside Alliance) and aristocratic backing.
Kate Bradley
