Hunting supporter tells animal-rights monitor: 'You're a paedophile for filming our children'

Exclusive Woman holding up phone to take footage of riders on a public road is accused of child abuse

A fox-hunting supporter has been filmed repeatedly accusing a hunt monitor of being a paedophile for shooting footage of riders and hounds on a public road.

The woman, caught on camera as the Grafton Hunt in Buckinghamshire set out, is seen claiming that her children are being filmed when the hunt approaches.

“I don’t give you permission to film my children – my children are under 16,” she says. “You are a paedophile for filming our children and should be put away.”

The hunt monitors said they were filming to see whether the pack, setting out from Stowe School, chased after foxes. 

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One young man, who appears to be a teenager, emerges from the Grafton pack and walks towards the camera. 

The mother then claims – wrongly – that it is illegal to film children.

“You are breaking the law by filming my children,” she insists. “Paedophiles shouldn’t be allowed out – it’s a disgrace.” 

The monitor taking the footage challenges her to call the police if she thinks he is committing a crime but she does not do so.

The woman and another supporter repeatedly come close to the camera to try to block the view of the riders and hounds.

Filming children in a public place is not illegal, although the media often voluntarily obscure children’s faces in some circumstances. Hunting wildlife with dogs has been illegal since 2005.

A spokeswoman for the Grafton said: “Having met at the school, we were accompanied by a number of mounted pupils, some of whom had parents following, so we presume this is the parent of one or more pupils but is not a known member of the hunt. 

“We never seek and always regret confrontation when out trail-hunting.”

Hunt monitor follows dogs trespassing into resident's garden while on hunt

The clash came just days after the master of a different hunt was filmed directing his hounds into a private garden whose owner had repeatedly asked them to stay away.

The master of the Beaufort Hunt was seen on horseback instructing the pack into the enclosed area during what is suspected of being a fox hunt. 

Monitor Denise Ward said: “The homeowner was annoyed they were in there because she has told them not to come several times and they keep ignoring her.”

Another monitor is seen in the video shoo-ing the hounds out of the garden near Hawkesbury Common in Gloucestershire.

Ms Ward said: “Someone on the other side of the hedge had whistled to show there was a fox so the master directed the hounds in there. If the hounds were genuinely following a legal trail, they wouldn’t do that.”

Since hunting with hounds was banned, hunts insist they follow legal scent trails but opponents claim that is a “smokescreen” for real fox-hunting.

The film was taken just as the Beaufort was granted a licence by the National Trust to use its land at Horton Court in the Cotswolds on dates next month and in March.

“The trust should not be granting licences to hunts that trespass elsewhere,” said Ms Ward.

This month monitors have repeatedly condemned the National Trust after taking photographs and various pieces of footage of foxes being chased by hunts that have received licences from the trust to use its land. Last year the trust introduced a ban on the use of trails on its land without a licence.

It pledged to publish dates, places and times of hunts in advance, but critics say the details are too vague to be of use, and accuse the trust of allowing the practice to continue, by both licensed and unlicensed packs, as if it had not been banned.

A National Trust spokesman said: "We take any reports of unlicensed trail hunts on our land very seriously, and we seek urgent clarification from the relevant trail hunts. In prior years we've declined to issue, have suspended, or have revoked trail-hunting licences when either licence conditions have been breached or where we have lost confidence in a trail hunt’s ability to adhere to the conditions.

"Trail hunts understand that they need to apply for a licence if they use trust land. The majority of trail hunts are responsible and recognise the importance of working with us to ensure this lawful activity takes place in a safe way, within the law. Clearly, it is unacceptable to disregard the long-established rules and wilfully disregard landowners."

The Independent has approached Beaufort for comment but none had arrived at the time of publication.