Kirby Bellars man to face trial on illegal foxhunting charge

Huntsman John ‘Ollie’ Finnegan and his whipper-in at the time, Rhys Matcham, will appear at Loughborough Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The case follows an investigation by Leicestershire Police, based on evidence obtained by professional investigators from the League Against Cruel Sports, who monitored the hunt from Breedon-on-the-Hill, in Leicestershire, on Tuesday, February 4 last year.

Finnegan, who remains an employee of the Quorn Hunt, and Matcham - now whipper-in at the Duke of Beaufort’s Hunt - face a charge of hunting a wild mammal with a dog contrary to Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004.

The case is expected to last two days with the second day of the trial scheduled for Wednesday next week.

The hearing comes nearly 16 years after hunting with dogs was banned in England and Wales with the introduction of the Hunting Act 2004, which came into force on February 18, 2005.