Man assaults female saboteur as she tries to film and monitor fox hunt in Warwickshire

'I have just been assaulted. I’ve just been slapped in the face'

Two men supporting a fox hunt allegedly assaulted two saboteurs, including a woman, who were trying to film and monitor the event in Warwickshire.

A man and a woman saboteur were standing in a field in Birdingbury with their cameras when they were approached by two men and were ordered to leave.

The men became aggressive.

In video footage captured on the saboteurs' phones, a supporter of the Warwickshire Hunt hit the camera and slapped the woman across the face, making her eye bleed. Another supporter hurled verbal abuse, following the camera.

The first, older man then repeatedly shoved the woman in the back until she fell to the ground.

Lying in the mud, she can be heard saying: "I have just been assaulted. I’ve just been slapped in the face."

In the video, the woman from the West Midlands Hunt Saboteurs asked the male hunt supporter why he hit women.

The man replied: "You can hit me if you want, I don’t give a f***."

After another hunt supporter admitted "that should never have happened" and agreed the saboteurs had never been violent towards them. The female victim approached a female hunt master, thought to be Charmian Green, in a car to ask whether she thought it was acceptable to hit women.

A female passenger in the back of the car said: "You’re not a woman. You’re a monster."

The victim received treatment for her eye injuries at the accident and emergency department at Warwick Hospital.

Lee Moon, spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs Association, said in a statement: "Fox hunting, by its very nature, is a violent activity and it is only a short leap from using violence towards animals to using violence against people."

He added: "This was a completely unprovoked attack by a very violent hunt. Fox hunting is a breeding ground for normalising violence with some very questionable attitudes towards women.

"We ask the question who are the real monsters here?"

Leicestershire Police are reportedly investigating the incident.

Warwickshire Police is also investigating.

Warwickshire Police inspector Allison Wiggins said in a statement for The Independent: "We are aware that a video of this incident has been shared widely online and has attracted a lot of interest. I would like to reassure people that we will be conducting thorough enquiries and speak to everyone involved.

"If anyone witnessed the incident or has any other information that could help with our enquiries then I would urge them to contact us."

Warwickshire Hunt describes itself as a "friendly" group on its website, ensuring members a "warm Warwickshire welcome".

A spokesman for the group told the Daily Mail: "The Warwickshire Hunt acts within the law to comply with the Hunting Act 2004.

"The Hunt does not condone any form of violence, even when faced with extreme provocation, personal harassment and other serial offences."