Vinnie Jones denies tweeting photograph of 'massacre' of 100 foxes saying 'it is a hack'

'I've never seen this pic in my life,' says footballer-turned-actor

Jones is a keen hunter and has previously posted photos of his 'kills' on his Twitter (Getty)

Vinnie Jones has vociferously denied sharing a photo of 100 dead foxes and claimed his account was hacked because of his fondness for hunting.

The Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor was fiercely criticised after an image of the foxes appeared on his Twitter account. The photo, which was deleted from his account on Sunday night, was captioned: “A real night lamping #foxes anyone beat this?”

Animal rights charities immediately condemned the image of the deceased animals and branded the scene “nothing less than a massacre”.

But the 52-year-old former Wimbledon and Chelsea midfielder, who is famed for his tough man image, has now insisted he was hacked and he had never laid eyes on the image.

“I have just woke to see these tweets with fox pics, this is a hack I've never seen this pic in my life and did NOT twwet Vin !!!!! [sic]” Jones wrote on Twitter.

He added: “I am very sorry for the distress this HACKED picture has caused everyone I DO NOT condone it in anyway”.

Jones, who is a keen hunter and has previously posted photos of his “kills” on his Twitter, said he thought the image had been both snapped and uploaded in Australia.

He retweeted a post saying: “That Fox photo is from 2012 in Australia when Victorian Govt introduced bounties for Foxes and Wild Dogs! Not Vinnie related.” The picture, according to another retweet by Jones, originated from a Facebook page of “Aussie Feral Game Hunters!”

Prior to Jones’ denial, animal campaigners expressed their outrage over the gory image.

Philippa King, CEO of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: “The extermination of such a large number of foxes cannot be interpreted as simply dealing with a rogue fox problem or wildlife management.

“Although the activity may be legal, there is no doubt it is unethical and likely totally unjustified – as fox populations are self-regulating.

“The joy expressed here highlights the true nature of this activity, which is killing wildlife for fun and has nothing to do with fox control.”

Elisa Allen, director of Peta UK, said: "If people hunted down panicked dogs for fun, we would call it what it is: cruelty to animals."

The actor, who is often cast in film roles of violent criminals and thugs, has stoked controversy in the past for sharing photos of his kills – including one of him posing next to 16 dead rabbits.

This month, he told Shooting UK: “I love pigeon shooting - building the hide, putting the decoys out.

The actor, who splits his time between Los Angeles and Sussex, revealed he had a particular penchant for lamping. This is the slang term for hunting at night using high-powered lights which capitalises on the special use of the eyeshine revealed by many animal species.

He said: “Lamping is probably my favourite. I’ve spent a lot of money on customising my Land Rover for lamping. If the farmer has a fox problem, I love going out and dealing with it for him.”

He denied killing the foxes to the Mail Online, saying: "It is absolutely nothing to do with me whatsoever.

"I’d never seen the picture until this morning when I’d seen people going mad on Twitter saying I had done this and that. I was shaking, I’d never seen the picture, and I’d never seen that many foxes.

"That is an attack on me. I don’t know how it has got on there."

A representative for Jones did not immediately respond to request for comment.