Members of the Grove and Rufford Hunt acquitted on appeal

All three members of the Nottinghamshire based Grove and Rufford Hunt who were convicted last year of hunting a wild mammal with dogs have been acquitted today (15 March) on appeal at Nottingham Crown Court.

The case collapsed after it was revealed that the prosecution failed to show 50 photographs that contained clear evidence that supported the defendants case that they were all hunting legally.

In March 2017 all three members of the hunt pleaded not guilty to offences under the Act at Mansfield Magistrates' Court. The alleged offence took place in January 2016 at Laneham, Nottinghamshire and was witnessed by two members of the public who then reported the incident to the police. Paul Larby, 58, Peter White, 57, and Jane Wright, 63, of the Grove and Rufford Hunt were all fined.

The Countryside Alliance's Chief Executive Tim Bonner said: "We are very pleased that Paul Larby, Peter White, and Jane Wright have been acquitted but this has been a long, stressful and expensive process which should never have happened.

"If all the evidence had been available from the start it is unlikely that there would have even been a prosecution, and there would certainly never have been convictions in the magistrates' court.

"The police and CPS need to be extremely careful in hunting cases that the views of witnesses and others involved in investigations do not unduly influence prosecutions and decisions to prosecute."