We in the countryside are often told that rural policing is in crisis. A study by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) last summer found that crime in rural areas has surged by 32% since 2011, compared with a 24% increase in towns and cities. Meanwhile, many forces lack specialised rural officers or even basic equipment such as torches, drones, or ANPR cameras.
So, Behind The Masks was surprised to hear that police in Humberside apparently have resources to spare, dispatching no fewer than six vehicles to inspect a meeting of the Holderness Hunt near Beverly in East Yorkshire on Saturday 8th February.
Eyewitnesses said that the cars, which included a fire and rescue vehicle, appeared on the scene following a call by local hunt saboteur Charlotte Smith.
Smith, who is a leading figure in the Hull Wildlife Protectors, reportedly told police that the Holderness’ hounds were out of control. However, when officers arrived at the scene, they found absolutely nothing wrong. This may have been a touch embarrassing for Smith, who claims on her X profile to be a “qualified animal behaviourist & trainer” with a master’s degree in animal welfare science.
Behind The Masks contacted Humberside Police to clarify why so many vehicles had been sent to attend a legal trail hunt but received no response.
According to those present, the officers left after speaking to members of the Holderness Hunt and concluding that no illegal activity had taken place.
By calling in a false report about hounds on the loose, Smith and her fellow sabs were not only wasting the hunt’s time, but also the police’s, which is an offence under Section 5(2) of the Criminal Law Act. Such behaviour carries a maximum sentence of imprisonment for up to six months and/or a fine of £2,500.
These tactics are sadly commonplace among the hunt saboteur community. In January, we reported on messages sent by the Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs group that encouraged supporters to call 999 and “exaggerate the situation as far as your safety is concerned.”
The group instructed sabs to “scream whilst on the phone as if you are being attacked” in order to prompt a more urgent police response.
It remains unclear why Humberside police felt the need to dispatch so many vehicles and officers to attend a trail hunt, or what precisely Hull Wildlife Protectors claimed was happening.
The sab group has been locked in a longstanding struggle with the Holderness Hunt, with the BBC reporting in March 2024 that the protectors’ behaviour sometimes amounts to “trespass and harassment.”
Tom Wright, a huntsman for the Holderness Hunt, told the national broadcaster that masked strangers would sit in cars outside the kennels where he works, sometimes as late as three o’clock in the morning.
“It can make you quite anxious. You never know who is behind the mask,” Wright said.