A MAN from Netherton was convicted for setting dogs to maul a fox to death in the first prosecution brought by the RSPCA under the Hunting Act. Paul McMullen, 36, of Musker Drive, was sentenced at Chester Magistrates Court after helping flush the fox from a badger set before setting dogs on it to kill it. He was found guilty of hunting a wild mammal with a dog, was given a £750 fine and ordered to pay £5,000 towards costs. McMullen was ordered to hand a terrier and lurcher dog to the RSPCA and hand over spades and locator collars. At earlier hearings last year Mark Kenneth Walsh, 18, of St Augustine’s Way in Netherton, Paul Kelly, 21, of Outer Forum in Norris Green and a juvenile, who cannot be named, were sentenced for their part. The court heard the three men and the juvenile travelled together to the field in Great Barrow, near Chester in January last year, with five terrier-type dogs a lurcher, three shovels and locator collars. They sent two dogs into the sett and allowed them to kill the female fox when it emerged. A member of the public saw them near the sett and called police who arrested them at the scene. RSPCA inspectors and special operations unit officers were called in and discovered the dead fox. Sentencing McMullen, magistrate chairman Michael Trevor-Barnston, said: “You did attend the site with three others, you did have two dogs of your own and you did intend to hunt. Evidence of digging and spades were found close by, along with the body of a vixen which had been subsequently mauled.” McMullen, who represented himself, claimed he visited the site to seek permission from the landowner to hunt rabbits but denied intending to hunt a fox. He denied flushing out the fox and setting his dog to kill it. RSPCA chief inspector Ian Briggs said: “The ability to make animals suffer for sport is barbaric and we are glad to see the court has given a very clear and authoritative judgement on this.” Last year Kelly and Walsh, who had shown remorse in mitigation, pleaded guilty to hunting a wild mammal with a dog. They were fined £500 each, order to pay costs and had to forfeit their dogs. A juvenile pleaded guilty to the offence at Sefton Youth Court in October and received an 18 month conditional discharge and was ordered to pay £500 costs. He had not previously offended and signed both his terriers to the RSPCA. | 
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