Thomas Ledbury sentenced for fox hunting cruelty

In the video, the dogs are seen biting the fox on its right hind upper leg and upper neck

A hunter who aided the throwing of a live fox to a pack of hounds has been ordered to carry out community service.

Thomas Ledbury, 38, from Corsham, in Wiltshire, was sentenced at Swindon Magistrates' Court on 18 March to 240 hours of unpaid work.

He was captured on video supervising another hunter drag the fox from its den, before throwing it to the hounds.

Ledbury pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting another to commit an offence, namely unnecessary suffering to a fox.

He was sentenced to a 12-month community order and ordered to pay costs of £660, along with a victim surcharge of £95.

'Baying hounds'

The hunting group were accompanied by a young child when the incident occurred near Melksham, on 24 December 2020.

Although trail hunting is legal - in which dogs and riders follow an artificial scent along an agreed route - it has been illegal to hunt foxes in England since 2004.

Chief inspector Will Mitchell, from the RSPCA's special operations unit which led the investigation into the incident, said: "As part of a larger investigation the video footage was identified from a seized mobile phone.

"This shocking hunt video shows the lack of compassion and empathy for this fox who is thrown to a pack of baying hounds.

"It's really worrying to think anyone may find treating an animal this way fun."

'Unnecessary suffering'

The court heard how two other men were also convicted for their involvement in the incident.

The court document stated that Ledbury "counselled and procured Oliver Thompson to cause unnecessary suffering to a protected animal".

Thompson was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a fox following trial, and was sentenced to a 20-week suspended prison sentence in December 2023.

Ex-Avon Vale Hunt master, Stuart Radbourne, also received a suspended 18-week custodial sentence in November 2023.

Ledbury was previously employed as a terrier man for Avon Vale Hunt, where he would train terriers to go underground and flush out the animals hiding there, before allowing the dogs to kill those that emerged.

The Avon Vale hunting club disbanded last year after being expelled by the sport's governing body following a similar incident in 2022, in which footage of a live fox being thrown to the hounds was posted online.