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Hunting Fatality
Bryan Griffiths, aged 54, of Bedworth, North Warwickshire, appeared at Nuneaton Magistrates Court today (12 March), charged with the murder of 48-year-old Mr Morse. Mr Morse was hit by the light aircraft on Monday afternoon as he was following the Warwickshire hunt. The court heard that Mr Griffiths, a heating technician, was a member of an anti-hunt group and a volunteer hunt monitor. He was remanded in custody to appear at Warwick Crown Court on 23 March. A second man was arrested on suspicion of murder but has been released by police on bail.
Many of you will already be aware of the horrific incident at Long Marston airfield in Warwickshire on Monday. Trevor Morse, a passionate and committed supporter of the Warwickshire Hunt and the Alliance, was killed by a gyrocopter that had been used by anti hunt monitors to follow the hunt for some weeks.
This is not the time or place to discuss details of what happened, or why. The truth will emerge from the various inquiries already in play. It is a time to think about Trevor's family and friends. One of those friends, Warwickshire Joint-Master Sam Butler, paid him a fitting tribute: "Trevor was a very great supporter, a passionate believer in country sports and hunting and the tribute I pay is not only to him but to his family. This man was the most loyal and most high quality supporter of hunting you will ever find. Outside his family, it was the most important thing to him."
A police investigation is ongoing and two people who we believe are linked to a local animal rights group called Protect Our Wild Animals (POWA) are being questioned on suspicion of murder. The legal process will continue, and along side that we will be restating our concerns to the police and other bodies about the behaviour of animal rights activists (who frequently masquerade as monitors) in relation to hunts.
There is one basic truth that still seems to escape anti-hunt groups: it is the role of the police, and no-one else, to uphold the law. Animal rights activists cannot appoint themselves to police hunting any more than any other activist can appoint themselves to police any other law. No-one could ever have predicted that the behaviour of the anti-hunting groups could have led to an incident as horrific as that on Monday, but it was always bound to cause conflict and concern, and raise tensions.
There are no reasonable arguments left for retaining the Hunting Act, so getting rid of it need not be complicated or time consuming. Bad laws should be repealed, and this is a very bad law. Legal progress is important but it is another reason for repeal, not a substitute for it. The Act has failed completely and for the sake of Trevor, and everyone else affected by a law which promotes so much conflict and confusion, it cannot be allowed to remain in force.
Simon Hart
Simon Hart is Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance