Sussex huntsman pleads guilty to illegal hunting

The huntsman for the Sussex based Crawley and Horsham Hunt appeared at Worthing Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to hunting a fox with dogs, contrary to Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004. Nick Bycroft, 48, was given a 12 month conditional discharge, ordered to pay £150 costs and a £15 victim surcharge. In his mitigation the court was told that Bycroft “got carried away in the heat of the moment”. The incident took place at Angmering Park, near Arundel on the 19th February this year. The incident was filmed by an independent anti-hunt monitor who subsequently handed the footage to Sussex police. In April this year Nick Bycroft was fined £150 after admitting to Public order offences and Criminal damage after an unprovoked attack on hunt saboteurs last November.