Huntsman to stand trial over fox killed in Hingham garden

The high-profile incident in February 2023, which saw the fox killed by hounds on a family’s patio in Hingham leaving blood strewn near the owners' swimming pool, was captured on CCTV footage.

A second alleged incident involving West Norfolk Hunt two weeks earlier in Tittleshall saw a member of the public report seeing several horse riders next to a field in the village, together with a large pack of dogs following a fox into a hedgerow.

Four men pleaded not guilty in June 2023 and are now set to stand trial at Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court in July.

READ MORE: Men charged after hunting dogs chase fox into Hingham garden

A hearing at Norwich Magistrates' Court heard the trial would now go ahead after the Crown Prosecution Service rejected a basis of plea, where defendants accept guilty but in circumstances different to those alleged.

A man runs off with the dead fox that was killed by a pack of hunting dogs at a home in Hingham (Image: Submitted)

The court was not given details of the plea deal being proposed by the defence. 

The huntsmen were not present in court but were all represented by defence counsel Stephen Welford, who specialises in hunting offences. 

Three of the men – Edward Bell, 29, and Adam Egginton, 22, both of Moor Lane in Necton, and Andrew Kendall, 67, of Hulver Road in Henstead, near Beccles – face two counts of hunting a wild mammal with dogs, being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control, alongside three counts of criminal damage charges for the incident in Hingham.

The fox runs into the private garden in Hingham (Image: Submitted)

A fourth man – Robert Gurney, 54, of Bawdeswell – is charged with hunting a wild mammal with dogs, and being the owner or person in charge of a dog dangerously out of control at the incident in Tittleshall.

The men deny all the charges.