Badger Baiters

Badger Baiters - H

Name - Hadley Mark

Address - Kinlett Grove, Northfield, Birmingham

Convicted - 9/12/95

Fine - 50 hours community service and £750 costs

Magistrates - Redditch

Age/D.O.B - 32

Also convicted - Keith Blakeman

Notes - Both were found guilty of interfering with a badger sett. They were caught 12/2/95. They were found by police digging at a hole, but both claimed they were trying to get a dog out that had gone down it. It was claimed in court that the RSPCA had political motives in prosecuting the two men, as it was part of the charity's opposition to fieldsports. Both defended by Richard Griffiths.

Name - Hallifield Andrew

Address - Main Street, Repton

Convicted - 29/4/88

Fine - £1000

Magistrates - Derby

Age/D.O.B - 19

Also convicted - Sean Davies, Neil Hardwick, Simon Holt and Michael Holland

Notes - Davies and Holland have other convictions for badger offence. (16/2/89) They were all caught 1/1/88. They said they were after foxes and badgers.

Name - Hann Andrew

Address - Hengrove

In court 18/9/87

Not guilty

Magistrates - Avon North

Age/D.O.B - 20

Notes - Caught on 4/4/87. A 16 year old dog breeder and a 15 year old from Brislington were also in court.

Name - Hardwick Neil

Address - South Street, Woodville

Convicted - 29/4/88

Fine - £1000

Magistrates - Derby

Age/D.O.B - 21

Also convicted - Sean Davies, Simon Holt, Michael Holland and Andrew Hallifield

Notes - Davies and Holland have other convictions for badger offence. (16/2/89) They were all caught 1/1/88. They said they were after foxes and badgers.

Name - Harper Kenneth

Address - Bryn-y-Fran, Trethomas

Convicted - 4/10/85

Fine - £250 and £50 costs

Magistrates - Narberth

Age/D.O.B -

Also convicted - Jeffrey Elliot and Christopher Eedy

Notes - Caught 23/12/84. At the time of his conviction Elliot was terrier man for the Gelligaer Farmers Foxhunt. Found guilty of attempting to dig for badgers. They had ten terriers between them at their time of arrest.

Name - Harris Gary

Address - Knapp Lane, Cam

Convicted - 17/10/86

Fine - £150 and £100 costs (£75 for each charge)

Magistrates - South Gloucestershire

Age/D.O.B - 17

Also convicted - Peter Garraway

Notes - Found guilty of digging for badgers and attempting to take a badger. Barry Peachy gave evidence for the defence. Mr Charles Auld defended both of them.

Name - Harrison Allen

Address - Laurel Avenue, Newton-Le-Willows

Due to appear in court 26/9/87

Fine - ?

Magistrates - Warrington

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also charged - Stephen Rawlings, John Brocklehurst and Peter Daly

Notes - Charged with attempting to kill, injure or take a badger.

Name - Harrison Ivor

Address - 89 Salisbury Drive, Midway, Burton-on-Trent

Convicted - 16/2/89

Fine - £500 (£250 for each offence)

Magistrates - Coalville

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also convicted - Martin Burgess, Michael Holland, Sean Davies and Stephen Holland

Notes - Caught 3/4/88. All found guilty of attempting to take a badger and digging for a badger. They all said they were after foxes

Name - Harrison Philip

Address - Cutler Place, Bradford

Convicted - 15/5/84 and appealed 13/12/84

Fine - £500 and £236 costs, fine cut at appeal to £250 and ordered to pay a further £100 costs

Magistrates - Alferton and Derby Crown Court

Age/D.O.B - 31

Also convicted - Lewis Edwards, Kevin Baines, Paul Cartwright and David Morris

Notes - All found guilty of attempting to injure or take a badger from a sett and digging for badgers. Caught July 1883. All defended by Mr John Winch, they all said they were looking for badgers.

Name -Harwood Shaun

Address - Selkirk Avenue, Astley Bridge

Convicted - 21/8/99

Fine - 150 hours community service and £150 costs

Magistrates - Blackburn

Age/D.O.B -

Also convicted - Paul Sheridan

Notes - Two Bolton men who were caught red handed trying to set a terrier on a badger in its sett have escaped jail. Paul Sheridan (43) of Johnson Fold Avenue, Johnson Fold, and Shaun Harwood (34) of Selkirk Avenue, Astley Bridge, had both been found guilty of badger baiting by Blackburn magistrates and on 21/8/99 they were each sentenced to 150 hours community service and ordered to pay £150 costs. When they were discovered Sheridan had three terriers with him and claimed one of the dogs had run off and chased a fox down the sett, then become trapped underground. Magistrates found the men guilty of digging for a badger, damaging and obstructing a badger sett and causing a dog to enter a sett.

Name - Haslem Gary Lee

Address - Moorend, Clitheroe

Convicted - 7/2/00

Fine - 100 community service and £1,200 costs

Magistrates - Burnley

Age/D.O.B - 29

Also convicted -

Notes - Gary Lee Haslam was convicted of digging for badgers but has escaped a jail sentence. Haslam was also found guilty of cruelty to his dog, which suffered nasty facial injuries, was given 100 hours community service and put on a four-month curfew. On 7/2/00 Burnley magistrates banned Haslam from keeping a dog for five years and told to pay £1,200 in costs and his dog was forfeited. Haslam must now stay in between 9.30pm and 6am for the next four months and wear ankle and wrist bracelets. The court heard how Haslam had been seen by police coming out of a wood wearing camouflage clothing and his dog was bleeding from the mouth and eye. Haslam said his terrier had disappeared into a hole and he had dug her out. While digging, he claimed, he saw a fox vault from the hole followed by the dog. Officers later found the defendant's spade and iron bar near to an active badger sett. Haslam said he had never seen a badger. The court also heard that Haslam has had working dogs virtually all his life.

Name - Hattersley Darren

Address - 95 Hurlfield Road, Gleadlass, Sheffield

Convicted - 9/2/96

Fine - 6 months and £500 costs

Magistrates - Redditch

Age/D.O.B - 27

Also convicted - Martin Bradley

Notes - Caught February 1995. Hattersley admitted cruelty to a badger and three charges of putting his dogs at risk. Whilst they were digging for badgers a local spotted them and phoned the police, When they realised they were being watched they both ran off, but were arrested nearby. A badger cub was found dead at the sett and five injured terriers were also recovered. Mark Anderson defended Bradley and Steven Cooper defended Hattersley. They said they were after foxes and did not realise that a badger was in the hole.

Name - Hawkins Ian

Address - 18 Royal Avenue, Scarborough

In court 22/12/95

Not guilty

Magistrates - Scarborough

Age/D.O.B - 26

Also charged - Alan Watts, Terry Watts, Steve Osbourne, Mike Osbourne and Brian Rhodes

Notes - The six were cleared of badger related offences. All defended by Harry Topham, they had Barry Peachey as a witness. See Countryman's Weekly 24/11/95, page 14.

Name - Haytey John

Address - Clarendon Road, Middlesborough

Convicted - Autumn 1992

Fine - £500

Magistrates - Teesside

Age/D.O.B - 18

Also convicted - Les Yafano

Notes - Both pleaded guilty to attempting to kill or injure a badger.

Name - Heath Robert Leonard

Address - Oscott Avenue, Little Hulton, Manchester

Convicted - 30/5/86

Fine - £400 and £50 costs

Magistrates - Chesterfield

Age/D.O.B - 26

Also convicted - David Roberts and William Walsh

Notes - All found guilty of digging for badgers. Roberts also pleaded guilty to ill-treating one of his dogs and was fined an extra £100. (29 puncture wounds found on the dog) All defended by John Spittle. They all said they were given permission to hunt foxes. Roberts was also fined an extra £70 for having no tax disc and no M.O.T. on his car. Roberts Also has another conviction 11/5/87.

Name - Hepple Jeffrey

Address - Beech Crescent, Seaham

In court 20/11/87

Not guilty

Magistrates - Hexham

Age/D.O.B - 18

Also charged - Terrance Atkinson, Alan Bell and William Rochester

Notes - Caught April 86. Travelled 30 miles to the reservoir. Found not guilty of digging for badgers, they said they were after foxes, all given £7 expenses

Name - Herlihy Kieron

Address - Welstead Avenue, Yate

Convicted - 15/12/00

Fine - £100 and £200 costs and £600 compensation

Magistrates - North End

Age/D.O.B - 33

Also convicted - Alone

Notes - A man watched in horror as he saw a badger being dragged from its sett and beaten with a spade, a court heard. The animal was being pulled by a rope from its den in Doynton, near Yate, surrounded by five terrier dogs which were snapping and biting at it. The man was alerted when he heard dogs yapping. He looked out of his window and saw two men and a boy with the dogs. He said: "I saw them drag out a large animal with a rope, it was covered with about four or five terriers which were biting it. He then told the court he saw the badger being hit with a spade and immediately called the police. Kieron Herlihy (33) of Welstead Avenue, Yate, denied three offences of interfering with a badger sett, taking, or attempting to take a badger. North Avon magistrates were told on 15/12/00 no charges were brought against a 12- year-old boy also arrested at the scene and the other man had not been traced. Herlihy said he had been hunting for 20 years and regularly went out with his terriers. He admitted carrying a spade which he said he used to beat down undergrowth when his dogs were after rabbits. A spiked iron bar with a T-bar handle, described by Herlihy as a hunting bar, was used as a walking stick. He denied attempting to take a badger and said his dog had become stuck in a burrow and his friend, who he refused to name, was digging it out. Magistrates found Herlihy guilty of interfering with the sett but cleared him of taking or attempting to take a badger. He was fined £100, (HOW MUCH!!!) ordered to pay £200 costs with £600 compensation for the cost of keeping his dogs in kennels before the case came to court. Two terriers belonging to the second man are still being held in kennels.

Name - Hickey Darren

Address - Wordsworth Cresent, Blacon, Chester

Convicted - January 1987

Fine - £150 and £25 costs and £7.50 witness expenses

Magistrates - Chester

Age/D.O.B - 20

Also convicted - Julian Mark Aird

Notes - Caught 31/8/86. Found guilty of digging for badgers. Claimed they had been hare coursing with their terriers

Name - Hickey Darren

Address - Blacon Avenue, Blacon, Chester

Convicted - 16/8/90

Fine - £200 and £50 costs

Magistrates - Wrexham

Age/D.O.B - 24

Also convicted - James Dixon

Notes - Defending Dixon, Mr Steven Everett claimed they were out looking for rabbits. Found guilty of attempting to take a badger and causing unnecessary suffering to a dog. Mr Francis Chamberlain defended Hickey said he does not know how his client will get by without his dog.

Name - Hickling Neil (Member of Fell & Moorland Working Terrier Club)

Address - 30 Muriel Street, Bulwel, Nottingham

Convicted - 8/2/91

Fine - £175

Magistrates - Nottingham

Age/D.O.B - 20

Also convicted - Paul Walker, Ivan Brown and Thomas Eaton

Notes - All found guilty of digging for badgers. Caught 28/11/90. They said they were after foxes. They were all defended by Granville Rooley.

Name - Hicks Robert Lee (representative for F. & M.W.T.C. West Midlands Branch, ED-RD 22 February 1994)

Address - 2 Manning Close, Oatshill, Bromsgrove

Convicted - 6/9/94

Fine - 3 months for each charge and £100 costs

Magistrates - Redditch

Age/D.O.B - 26

Also convicted - Simon Bullock

Notes - Caught 5/12/93. They were both found guilty of interfering with a badger sett and sending a dog down the sett (3 months for each charge, to run consecutively). They claimed they were after foxes.

Name - Hickson Stephen Albert

Address - 77 Wansford Road, Driffield. YO25 7NG

Convicted - 19/1/94

Fine - 2 months

Magistrates - Worthing

Age/D.O.B - 31

Also convicted - Philip Marshall and Rodney Dibble

Notes - Found guilty of digging for badgers and aiding and abetting the wilful killing of badgers.

Name - Hill John

Address - Glynneath Road, Neath

Convicted - Spring 1995

Fine - ?

Magistrates - Tenby

Age/D.O.B - 34

Also convicted - Andrew Mullahy, Brian James and Paul Brian

Notes - All pleaded guilty to digging for badgers.

Name - Hill Oliver Harvey (Huntsman of the Pukeridge Hunt)

Address - The Kennels, Brent Pelham

Convicted - 6/12/93

Fine - 2 year conditional discharge and £35 costs

Magistrates - Hertford

Age/D.O.B - 33

Also convicted - Alone

Notes - Found guilty of blocking up badger setts while trespassing. He said he was acting on the instructions of hunt Master Captain C. Barcley.

Name - Hoggard Nigel

Address - Beaver Road, Beverley, Hull

Convicted - 22/2/89

Fine - £250 and £10 costs

Magistrates - Malton

Age/D.O.B - 24

Also convicted - Lance Watkin and Shaun Walsh

Notes - They said they were looking for foxes on the way back from a show at Helmsley. Found guilty of attempting to take a badger. Caught 30/5/88, a passer by let the tyres on the van down, then alerted the police. Mr Bob Gundy defended all three.

Name - Holden Bill

Address - Jackson's Buildings, Bury Road, Rawtenstall

Convicted - 13/3/81

Fine - £100 and £15 costs (£50 for each offence)

Magistrates - Runcorn

Age/D.O.B - 30

Also convicted - Paul Smith and Richard Ashworth

Notes - Holden was found guilty of having live cartridges in his possession. They were all found guilty of digging for badgers. Caught 25/9/80. A photograph taken at the time was developed and showed a dog taking hold of a live badger. They said they were after foxes. All defended by Mr Robert Crawford.

Name - Holder Brian Anthony

Address - Hockley, Essex

Convicted - 19/9/00

Fine - £500 and £250 costs

Magistrates - Southend

Age/D.O.B -

Also convicted - Alone

Notes - found guilty of interfering with a badger sett by obstructing entrances.

Name - Holland Michael

Address - Bretby View, Hartshorne, Burton-on-Trent

Convicted - 16/2/89

Fine - £500 (£250 for each offence) and £100 costs

Magistrates - Coalville

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also convicted - Martin Burgess, Sean Davies, Ivor Harrison and Stephen Holland

Notes - Caught 3/4/88. All found guilty of attempting to take a badger and digging for a badger. They all said they were after foxes

Name - Holland Michael

Address - Sun Street, Woodville

Convicted - 29/4/88

Fine - £1000

Magistrates - Derby

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also convicted - Sean Davies, Neil Hardwick, Simon Holt and Andrew Hallifield

Notes - Davies and Holland have other convictions for badger offence. (16/2/89) They were all caught 1/1/88. They said they were after foxes and badgers.

Name - Holland Michael

Address - Cowsley Road, Chaddesden

Convicted - 18-19/9/97

Fine - See below

Magistrates - Bakewell

Age/D.O.B - 32

Also convicted - Garry Shaw, Gary Pettipierre and David Wragg

Notes - They were found guilty of interfering with a badger sett, digging for badgers and killing a badger. The court heard on they were seen on 10/3/96 by a badger protection group. The group were keeping watch on a sett when they observed the four approach the sett and begin digging. They then watched in horror as a badger was knifed, then bludgeoned to death. The police were called and found the body of a fully grown male badger still warm in a shallow grave near the sett. The four told the police they had been looking for foxes (there goes that old excuse again) and had nothing to do with the badgers death. However, Wragg told magistrates he had stabbed the badger through the heart and then buried it. He said the two terriers were on a scent and had run into the sett, he then dug out the terriers and found one dog locked jaw-to-jaw with the badger and the other dog was also clamped onto it. Wragg said the killing was unavoidable. "It was not sport. I did it to save the dogs." Police took a knife from Wragg and a boiler suit from Holland both were bloodstained and DNA genetic profiling (used for the first time in such a case) matched the blood of the dead badger. On 17/10/97 all were sentenced to five months in prison by Bakewell magistrates, however all were released on police bail pending an appeal at Derby Crown Court. The court also ordered that their terriers be forfeited to the RSPCA. Following a failed appeal at Derby Crown Court on 12/2/98, Holland was sentenced to four months, Wragg and Pettipierre both received three months sentences.

Name - Holland Stephen

Address - Moyne Gardens, Chellaston, Derby

Convicted - 16/2/89

Fine - £500 (£250 for each offence) and £100 costs

Magistrates - Coalville

Age/D.O.B - 24

Also convicted - Martin Burgess, Michael Holland, Sean Davies and Ivor Harrison.

Notes - Caught 3/4/88. All found guilty of attempting to take a badger and digging for a badger. They all said they were after foxes

Name - Holligan James Gerrard

Address - Copy Lane, Liverpool

In court 26/9/87

Found not guilty

Magistrates - Wirral

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also charged - Alone

Notes - Caught 15 February. Found not guilty of unlawfully killing a badger. Defended by Mr Ivan Wolfenden.

Name - Holmes Andrew Mark

Address - Chesterfield Road North, Pleasley, Mansfield

In court 22/10/87

Not guilty (see below)

Magistrates - Nottingham

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also charged - Gary Morley and Christopher Burgess

Notes - Caught 13/2/87. Found not guilty of digging for badgers. But they were found guilty of trespassing for rabbits without a licence and each fined £40. Holmes at the time of the court case was serving a sentence for assault. All three have pervious conviction for badger offences

Name - Holmes Andrew Mark

Address - Chesterfield Road, Mansfield

Convicted - 27/1/88

Fine - £500 and £165 costs see below

Magistrates - Loughborough

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also convicted - Christopher Burgess and Gary Morley

Notes - All found guilty of attempting to take a badger and digging for a badger. £250 for each charge. They said they were after rabbits.

Name - Holmes Andrew

Address - Chesterfield Road North, Mansfield

Convicted - 28/4/88

Fine - £600 and £120 costs

Magistrates - Newark

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also convicted - Neil Lowery, Gary Morley and Christopher Burgess

Notes - Holmes, Morley and Burgess have previous convictions for badger related offences. Found guilty of two offences of digging for badgers on 21/2/87 and 1/3/87. They said they were after foxes.

Name - Holt Simon

Address - Main Street, Ticknall

Convicted - 29/4/88

Fine - £1000

Magistrates - Derby

Age/D.O.B - 21

Also convicted - Sean Davies, Neil Hardwick, Michael Holland and Andrew Hallifield

Notes - Davies and Holland have other convictions for badger offence. (16/2/89) They were all caught 1/1/88. They said they were after foxes and badgers.

Name - Holt Steven

Address - 94 Tong Road, Little Lever, Bolton

Convicted - 15/2/89 and 13/4/90

Fine - £750 and £230 costs

Magistrates - Rochdale

Age/D.O.B - Born 1961

Also convicted - James Williams

Notes - Williams has previous convictions for badger offences

Name - Holtom Mark Anthony

Address - 53 Middleton Drive, Inkersall, Chesterfield

Convicted - 13/11/87

Fine - £135 and £20 costs

Magistrates - Renishaw

Age/D.O.B - 23

Also convicted - Wayne Tailby and Robert Thompson

Notes - All three had badger digging charges dropped. They said they were after rabbits. Tailby pleaded guilty to abandoning a dog and not having a dog licence. Holtom pleaded guilty to not having a dog licence, driving without supervision and failing to sign his licence. Mr Bertie Mather defended Tailby and Thompson.

Name - Hood Thomas Lyon (Official contact for Arncliffe Working Terrier Show - Shooting News 9/15 August 1991)

Address - Raneleagh Avenue, Ravenscliffe, Bradford

Convicted - 1/4/82

Fine - £75 and £4.36 costs

Magistrates - Calder

Age/D.O.B -

Also convicted - Alone

Notes -

Name - Hooton Anthony Cyril

Address - Thorpe Road, Middleton, Leeds

Convicted - 29/7/87

Fine - 2 months and £500 later reduced to 1 month and £100 fine

Magistrates - Driffield

Age/D.O.B - 25

Also convicted - William McLeary, Andrew Talbot, Ian Myres and Andrew Mudd

Notes - Caught 30/12/86. Hooton appealed against three offences attempting to kill, injure or take a badger, one of digging for badgers and further offence of cruelly ill-treating his dog. Banned from keeping dogs for 4 years.

Name - Hopwood Malcolm (Taxi driver)

Address - 29 Idwal, Plas Madoc, Acrefair, Ruabon

Convicted - 27/11/89

Fine - £250 and £75 costs

Magistrates - Berwyn

Age/D.O.B - 29

Also convicted - Anthony Fielding, Kevin Roberts and Christopher Till

Notes - All convicted of attempting to take a badger. Defending Julian Linskill said they were only after foxes. Hopwood had an appeal at Mold Crown Court and lost. He was ordered to pay the costs of £410. He also judges terriers at shows.

Name - Hornsby Shaun

Address - Albert Street, Barrow (parents address)

Convicted - 26/1/90

Fine - £200

Magistrates - Ulverston

Age/D.O.B - 19

Also convicted - Stephen Crozier

Notes - Pleaded guilty to digging for foxes. Mr Christopher Barron defended Hornsby, Crozier was not represented.

Name - Horrocks Brian Thomas

Address - Carr Lane, Worsley Mesnes, Wigan

Convicted - ?

Fine - £50 and £30 costs

Magistrates - Runcorn

Age/D.O.B - 31

Also convicted - David Prescott, John Buckley and Michael West

Notes - Caught 9/1/?. They were all found guilty of attempting to take a badger. They said they were after foxes.

Name - Horton Stephen

Address - Woodland Road, Liverpool

Convicted - 6/6/86

Fine - £150 and £96.83 costs

Magistrates - Chester

Age/D.O.B - 23

Also convicted - Philip Hughes and Wayne Scott

Notes - Caught 24/8/85. Found guilty of attempting to take badgers and digging for badgers. All three said they were after foxes.

Name - Horton Stephen

Address - 15 Woodland Road, Seaforth, Liverpool

Convicted - 1/1/89

Fine - 30 days

Magistrates - Wirral

Age/D.O.B - 27

Also convicted - Barry Purden

Notes - Both were found guilty of cruelty to an adult male fox, which they trapped and killed with four dogs while in West Kirby. They also buried the animal alive after it had gone to ground.

Name - Howard Graham

Address - Coniston Road, Ferryhill

Convicted - 27/4/96

Fine - 5 months

Magistrates - Durham

Age/D.O.B - 25

Also convicted - Darren and David Swanson

Notes - They all admitted to digging for a badger, attempting to kill, injure or take a badger and two charges of unnecessary suffering to dogs. All banned from keeping dogs for 10 years

Name - Howard Simon

Address - 36 Swales Road, Sutton, Ellesmere Port

In court 31/1/89

Fine - ?

Magistrates - Chester

Age/D.O.B - 20

Also charged - Neil Hughes and Anthony Butler

Notes - Caught 21/2/88

Name - Howell Andrew John

Address - Heol Aneurin, Penyroel, Caerphilly

Convicted - June 1986

Fine - ?

Magistrates - Warminster

Age/D.O.B -

Also convicted - Peter Twynham

Notes -

Name - Howlett Stephen

Address - 107 Plymouth Road, Ely, Cardiff

Convicted - 3/7/92

Fine - ?

Magistrates - Pontypridd

Age/D.O.B -

Also convicted - Alone

Notes - Digging out a badger

Name - Hughes Damien

Address - 39 Ballytrodden Road, Benburb, County Armagh

Convicted - February 1996

Fine - £150

Magistrates - Cookstown

Age/D.O.B - 28

Also convicted - alone

Notes - The badger sett had lain undisturbed for 20 years until Hughes came along. He claims one of his terriers chased a fox down into the badger sett. He was told his conduct was reckless and brutal by a special sitting of the Cookstown Magistrates Court. The charge was brought under the 1985 Northern Ireland Wildlife Order. The owner of the farm Victor Emerson gave evidence. Hughes was defended by Martin Wolfe.

Name - Hughes Neil

Address - 7 Plantation Drive, Rivacre, Ellesmere Port

In court 31/1/89

Fine - ?

Magistrates - Chester

Age/D.O.B -21

Also charged - Anthony Butler and Simon Howard

Notes - Caught 21/2/88

Name - Hughes Paul

Address - 27 Stile Hey, Thornton

Convicted - ?

Fine - £100 and £31.03 costs

Magistrates - Chester

Age/D.O.B - 17

Also convicted - Keith Thomas, McMullen, Kevin Walsh and Charles Fisher

Notes - All found guilty of digging for badgers

Name - Hughes Paul Dominic

Address - 7 Plantation Drive, Riveracre, Ellesmere Port

Convicted - 9/9/87

Fine - £125 and £35 costs (£50 for digging and £75 for injuring a badger)

Magistrates - Neston

Age/D.O.B - 17

Also convicted - Ian Griffith and Thomas McMullen

Notes - All found guilty of digging for badgers and injuring badgers. There was also a 16 year old youth there who could not be named, may have been a fourth person also who actually killed the badger. The youth was fined £20 for digging and £30 for injuring the badger and £20 costs.

Name - Hughes Philip Howarth

Address - Brook Vale, Liverpool

Convicted - 6/6/86

Fine - £150 and £96.83 costs

Magistrates - Chester

Age/D.O.B - 23

Also convicted - Wayne Scott and Stephen Horton

Notes - Caught 24/8/85. Found guilty of attempting to take badgers and digging for badgers. All three said they were after foxes.

Name - Hull Andrew

Address - Old Coulsdon

Convicted - 15/3/85

Fine - 3 months in a detention centre and £100 costs

Magistrates - Croydon

Age/D.O.B - 18

Also convicted - Mark Starks

Notes - Hull also admitted possessing a cosh, going equipped to steal and theft of petrol, with 50 similar offences to be taken into consideration. Found guilty of killing a badger. They cut off the badgers head so as they could stuff and mount it. Starks also admitted possessing a shotgun without a licence.

Name - Hull Anne (Joint master of The Essex Farmers and Union Hunt)

Address - Maldon Road, Burnham

Convicted - 25/4/01 appealed and won on 2/22/01

Fine - £250 with £500 costs

Magistrates - Epping then Chelmsford Crown Court

Age/D.O.B - 39

Also convicted - none

Notes - In a landmark case, Anne Hull (39) who is the joint master of The Essex Farmers and Union Hunt of Maldon Road, Burnham, was convicted of aiding and abetting interference with a badger sett by Epping magistrates on 25/4/0l and was fined £250 with £500 costs. The court heard that during an Essex Farmers and Union Hunt, five holes in a large, established badger sett were plugged by earthstoppers and terriermen. The prosecution said although there was no suggestion that Hull had dug the hole herself, she was responsible for the hunt's actions on that day. The court heard that hunts can be prosecuted if they trespass on land without permission or hard-block setts - packing earth so that badgers cannot undig their homes. In her defence, Hull, said: "Professional huntsman Ken Hand was responsible for the earthstoppers and terriermen. It's not my department. Hand is employed to be in charge and he was dealing with that." Asked why she did not contact the community centre warden for permission earlier, she said: "We cover 30 to 50 miles a day when hunting and I have four children and a busy life. I have to do it when I can." Hand told the court: "I can't say how they marked the badger sett as I did not get off my horse. My job is to provide support for the paying customers." He said he was not even aware there was a sett there before the hunt. Anne Hull (40) of Maldon Road, Burnham was found guilty in of aiding and abetting interference with a badger sett. But Chelmsford Crown Court overturned the conviction at an appeal hearing on 2/11/01 after ruling there was no direct evidence linking Hull with the blocking of a badger sett. The court heard how Hull was a joint master of The Essex Farmers and Union Hunt when the six-hole badger sett was partially blocked by earth-stopper and terrierman Bryn Chittenden.

Name - Hulme Mark John

Address - Ash Grove, Rode Heath, Stoke-On-Trent

Convicted - 15/1/97

Fine - See below

Magistrates - Nottingham

Age/D.O.B - 33

Also convicted - Nicholas Grooby, Gary Pearson and David Edwards

Notes - All found guilty by Nottingham Magistrates on 15/1/97 of attempting to take a badger, digging for badgers and interfering with a badger sett, after being caught on 16/11/95. The court heard how they were spotted by a local gamekeeper who had watched them digging at a well known badger sett. One of them had a dog locator scanner while another was poking a large metal spike into the ground. On 20/2/97 they were all sentenced to four months for attempting to take a badger, two months for digging for badgers and two months for interfering with a badger sett. All sentences are to run concurrently. They were also banned from keeping animals for 5 years. All were released on bail pending an appeal. Following the appeal in July they all had their sentences reduced to 120 hours community service plus costs of either £400 or £500.

Name - Humphreys Gary Trevor

Address - 72 Hollins Street, Fenton, Stoke

Convicted - May 1984

Fine - £125 and £38.50 costs

Magistrates - Leek

Age/D.O.B - Aged 22

Also convicted - Kevin Ball

Notes - Both found guilty of digging for badgers

Name - Humphreys Kenneth

Address - Brooklea Close, Trefonen near Oswestry

Convicted - Autumn 1992

Fine - £500

Magistrates - Newton

Age/D.O.B -

Also convicted - Alone

Notes - He said he was after foxes. Found guilty of digging for badgers.

Name - Humphries Paul Thomas

Address - Grasmere Road, Newton

Convicted - 16/9/88

Fine - £2000 for two charges of taking and digging for a badger and £100 costs.

Magistrates - Chester

Age/D.O.B - 31

Also convicted - Alone

Notes - Caught 3/4/88. Phoned his friend Alan Moss (20) of Prenton Place, Handbridge for help with his dogs who were stuck down the sett. Francis Chamberlain defending.

Name - Hutchinson Stephen (roofer)

Address - Shipmans Way, Dover

Convicted - ?

Fine - £600 and £50 costs

Magistrates - Dover

Age/D.O.B - 22

Also convicted - Alan Ball and Ian Tull

Notes - Caught 31/10. All found guilty of digging for badgers. Ian Tull failed to show up in court and sent a sick note which the court refused to accept. Police caught them at another sett in Stafflands Wood.

Name - Hurrell Anthony Colin (Member of B.F.S.S. and F. & M.W.T.C.)

Address - 11 Sherwood Drive, Melton Mowbray

Convicted - 11/12/86

Fine - £100

Magistrates - Melton

Age/D.O.B - 49

Also convicted - Philip Hurrel and Mark Williams

Notes - Found guilty of attempting to take a badger and digging for a badger. Barry Peachy gave evidence for the defence. Caught 19/1/86.

Name - Hurrell Philip

Address - Flat 1, Rosebury Avenue, Melton Mowbray

Convicted - 11/12/86

Fine - £100