Family of fox hunt protesters fined after taking own film to police.

basil

Distinguished Member
A family of masked saboteurs have been found guilty of causing fear or alarm to members of a fox hunt in a ground-breaking legal case.
Colin and Beverly Milne and their daughter Amy Lilburn were convicted of acting in a threatening or abusive way on an estate owned by one of Britain's richest families.
Ironically, the clash with the huntsmen only came to light when the trio reported their suspicions about the legality of the hunt and showed video footage to police, before being locked up themselves.
They were detained in custody over a weekend and found guilty after a week-long trial on Wednesday, although the sheriff also criticised the police's failure to investigate their claims about the hunt on Snaigow Estate.
Perth Sheriff Court heard how the trio were dressed in "paramilitary" gear and had snoods pulled up and hats pulled down to mask their faces as they confronted members of the hunt.
Sheriff William Wood said: "It is my view you went overboard and were reckless about the consequences. If you are not behaving reasonably then you have to take the punishment.
"Any reasonable person would feel threatened by your conduct, even in the context of a fox hunt in which you say you were seeking to monitor events.
"Any person would suffer fear or alarm due to the persistence of your conduct. You all accept you entered Snaigow Estate while you were masked.
"You were certainly wearing snoods that covered your faces and hats that came down to your brows. You also accept you filmed members of the public.
"You gave that footage to the police. You also accept you followed Mr Broad and his son for an extensive period. This was a joint enterprise. The outcome and impact on other people had not been fully thought about by you.
"It doesn't seem to me that your conduct could be said to be reasonable in any way. You followed them over a distance of ten to 12 miles, for a period of one to two hours.
"You lay in wait for them at a private road. You followed them on foot and continued to follow them even though there was no hunt in progress. You continued to film them when there was nothing to film.
"I will take account of the somewhat surprising decision by the police not to investigate the circumstances and the time you have spent in custody."
He fined offshore labourer Mr Milne, 49, and toilet attendant Mrs Milne, 39, £200 each and admonished unemployed Lilburn.
All three live in Toutie Street, Blairgowrie, Perthshire and were found guilty of causing fear or alarm to Angus and Edward Broad on March 13 last year.
Defence solicitor Jim Bready previously told the court: "It was clear from the reaction of the huntsmen at the time and also from how the Milnes behaved that there was no prospect of danger to them.
"The conduct of the Milnes was impeccable in the situation even under the most extreme provocation. The one thing they seem to abhor more than anything is violence.
"The way the Milnes were conducting themselves didn't give them any cause to have fear or alarm. They tried to conduct themselves carefully.
"They simply did not anticipate the sinister notion of being masked. There are many innocent situations where people can be masked.
"They did not anticipate that what they were doing was criminal. It was all done with the best intentions."
Solicitor David Holmes argued the conduct of the trio had been reasonable as they believed they were interfering with a potentially illegal hunt.
During the trial, gamekeeper Peter Nicol said the decision was taken to abandon the hunt after a masked person, dressed all in black, crept up behind a fellow huntsman.
The 2800-acre Snaigow Estate, about four miles east of Dunkeld, is owned by the Cadogan family. The Earl of Cadogan was listed as Britain's second wealthiest peer with a £6bn fortune in 2009.
 
£200?!

I pay £200 is my car is clamped

Time the courts woke up and brought their fines in line with inflation and the rest of the world!
 
£200?!

I pay £200 is my car is clamped

Time the courts woke up and brought their fines in line with inflation and the rest of the world!

most of these people are unemployed (the daughter certainly was) and so the fine comes out their benefits at £4 a week or something silly so a bigger fine just means we'll end up paying more as they certainly won't.
 
No, it serves as a deterrent and removes income from them.
if it goes back into the state then so be it

half the problem is that criminals know that the sentence is worth the risk, not necessarily in this case but sentencing is a massive issue
it should have nothing to do with net worth
 
bewsher500 is right. All too often these days, sentences passed by courts not only in Scotland but also the rest of the UK are absolutely no deterrent. The conviction itself will be no doubt looked on as a badge of pride rather than anything to be ashamed of.

A community service sentence, to be performed on the estate in question would be much more appropriate.
 
bewsher500 is right. All too often these days, sentences passed by courts not only in Scotland but also the rest of the UK are absolutely no deterrent. The conviction itself will be no doubt looked on as a badge of pride rather than anything to be ashamed of.

A community service sentence, to be performed on the estate in question would be much more appropriate.

But could they ever be trusted to do any sort of community service on that estate (Or any other estate come to that)? Might they use it as an way to gain "information" about future hunts or shoots that could be used by either them or other "sabs" in an attempt to try to cause more trouble for the estate in question?
 
But could they ever be trusted to do any sort of community service on that estate (Or any other estate come to that)? Might they use it as an way to gain "information" about future hunts or shoots that could be used by either them or other "sabs" in an attempt to try to cause more trouble for the estate in question?

You're probably right. But it would be karma to have them mucking out the hound kennels.
 
sentencing is a massive issue

Could we have an icon for a hobby-horse, please? The abysmal performance of the CPS, combined with the total disconnection of the Sentencing Council from reality, results in a failed criminal justice system. In our local rag today there have been three court reports of violent assaults, including a stabbing and beating someone unconscious and then stamping on them. In each and every case there has been a guilty plea, followed by a custodial sentence being imposed, which is then SUSPENDED! :mad: Inevitably most folk involved have crime sheets as long as your arm. This is an entirely routine, regular occurrence in rural, tranquil Hereford City. God help you poor sods living in the big cities...
 
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