Tim Bonner: Hankinson's successful appeal means institutional landowners must review hunt ban

The news that Mark Hankinson had been successful in his appeal against a conviction for encouraging illegal hunting was the perfect start to the Festival of Hunting at Peterborough yesterday. Mark had originally been found guilty in October last year in relation to comments he made on an online webinar about dealing with anti-hunt activists. However, a judge at Southwark Crown Court overturned that conviction on the basis that his words were not clear evidence of encouraging illegal hunting.

Mark's successful appeal is not only a complete vindication for him but also removes any justification either for the banning of hunts by institutional landowners or the spate of prosecutions of trail hunts that followed his original conviction. Two prosecutions have already been dropped this year for lack of evidence and the CPS should now be reviewing all outstanding prosecutions involving hunts.

Trail hunting is a legitimate activity which has been carried out by hundreds of hunts across the country since traditional hunting was banned in 2005. There have been a tiny number of prosecutions involving hunts in that time and as this successful appeal shows, the police, public and politicians need to be extremely careful about believing spurious allegations made by prejudiced anti-hunt activists. The fact that a small number of individuals constantly make allegations does not prove anything other than their own obsession.

The Festival of Hunting, which the Alliance was proud to sponsor this year, was a wonderful gathering of hounds, horses and hunting people and an annual reminder of exactly why the campaign for hunting is so important. Twenty years ago we were in the midst of the extraordinary campaign against the hunting ban which culminated in the Liberty and Livelihood March. The Alliance was fighting for hunting then and has fought every day since for the future of our way of life and to send an unmissable message to politicians of all parties that there is a cost to be paid for crossing the countryside.

Two decades after the March which brought over 400,000 people to London, the Countryside Alliance is still standing your ground as one of the most effective and influential campaigning forces in the country. However, we face an ever-greater challenge and need to grow to counter it which is why we have launched a 20-year appeal, remembering what we achieved in the past, but with our focus firmly on the future of the countryside and the rural pursuits we all love. Please give what you can and together we can protect our way of life for the next 20 years.