A MAN from Ilminster in Somerset has been fined £513 after he pleaded guilty to a fox hunting incident in Dorset in 2024.

Dorset Police said it received reports that a fox was killed in the area of Drimpton near Beaminster after it was pursued by hounds at a trail event led by the Seavington Hunt on the morning of October 24, 2024.

A 39-year-old from Ilminster was interviewed and subsequently charged with hunting a wild mammal with dogs under Section 1 of the Hunting Act 2004.

He pleaded guilty to the charge at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court last Wednesday (May 28) and was fined £513, ordered to pay costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £205.

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PC Sebastian Haggett, from Dorset Police Rural Crime Team, said: “We take all reports of crime against wildlife seriously and we will seek to prosecute those individuals or groups who commit offences in our rural communities.

“I would like to extend my thanks to the witnesses in this case who provided evidence in this case and it shows the importance of reporting any alleged breaches of the Hunting Act 2004.”

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