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news
Knoll Hill Aldington (Google Maps)Horse-riding hunt participant filmed striking whip at cyclist
A horse-riding hunt member was caught on camera appearing to lash out, striking a whip at a cyclist as the hunting group passed during an event at the weekend in Kent.
The footage seen below was shared with Kent Online, and subsequently posted on social media. It was filmed by a hunt saboteur, Carly Ahlen, who was following The Kent Hounds' meet and reportedly shows the horse rider strike their whip at the cyclist following an earlier discussion between the parties.
The scene happened on Saturday afternoon on the B2067 Knoll Hill in Aldington near Ashford, Kent Police saying that it has not received a report regarding the incident.
Shocking footage shows the moment a hunt rider appears to strike their whip at a cyclist. Full story: https://t.co/PDN4J9irEk pic.twitter.com/kJHrgI71Of
— KentOnline (@Kent_Online) November 14, 2023
Explaining that the cyclist was not part of the East Kent Sabs saboteuring efforts, the person who filmed the footage said it was "entitled" behaviour that is typical of "what we have become used to over the years".
"Hunt havoc is the result of being allowed to ride roughshod over the countryside due to loopholes and exemptions in the law. We need to do more to close the loopholes – and consign hunting to the history books," she said.
Kent Online says it has verified that the footage was filmed at 12.12pm on Saturday thanks to the "video's metadata", however a spokesperson for The Kent Hounds hunting group says it is "not aware of any incident taking place" and said many details remained unclear.
"The Kent Hounds is a trail hunting organisation which conducts lawful trail hunting activities," the spokesperson said. "The hunt officials are not aware of any incident taking place nor of any allegations that have been made against one of our supporters, but this matter will be looked into further.
"You'll appreciate that spurious allegations are regularly made to the media about hunts and their supporters to discredit hunting despite an alarming lack of evidence to justify such claims.
"It's impossible to identify the hunt, the location, the date, the context or any specific individuals in the video footage that has been provided. But of course, if there is proved to be any substance to these allegations, we apologise for any distress that may have been caused to those involved."
The location appears to be a bend on the B2067 (as seen in the picture illustrating this story) while the local press says it has verified the date and time.
According to the group's website, The Kent Hounds is a "friendly and welcoming group of people from all walks of life and we invite visitors and newcomers to experience a day trail hunting with us".
Social media posts from Saturday's "inaugural opening meet 2023" said a "massive thank you to all our landowners and farmers for your continued support despite the wet ground conditions. A super day had by all."
Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.
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59 comments
The twitter comments are fun.
It is definitely the cyclists fault apparently...
People who enjoy violently abusing animals for fun have no qualms about violently abusing people shock. Hardly the first time...
Not really on topic, but back in my teens, when fox hunting was still legal, I was once out on a bike ride with a friend on a very quiet single-track lane close to home. We rounded a corner and came upon a full-scale fracas between hunters and hunt saboteurs. Must have been thirty people fighting in the road. Still one of the most abrupt and unexpected experiences I've ever had while cycling.
Brill; sounds like a playground fight at school. I always loved watching those. If, I wasn't participating myself of course. Can't understand why anyone would want to get involved in hunting with all the aggravation.
There are two things going on here.
1. Fox hunting or trial hunting or whatever. (This is a whole different debate and nothing to do with point 2)
2. Physical assault on a person, where from the video you can see one person not in danger is striking out at someone.
If the cyclist had gone up and hit the person on the horse, it would be the same. Physical assult.
This behaviour is not acceptable and whoever does it should get done for it. (IMHO)
On the other side, it does "look" like the cyclist is blocking the road, which inself is an offence.
All I am doing is looking at the footage and trying to make some sense of it.
There really is no place for fox hunting in the UK anymore.. This might have been a legal hunt for all I know, but the hunts in the midlands are the opposite of legal and the local police seem not to care about stopping them. The entitlement of the hunter filmed really does just cement bad feelings towards this bunch of CU next tuesdays. I would love for someone to brazenly put holes in all of their vehicle tyres while they are off hunting. Just imagine the inconvienience that 30 odd vehicles and horse boxes all with flat tyres in the middle of the countryside would cause them.
It's a drag hunt.
Allegedly.
That would explain the silly costumes.
You mean they're chasing RuPaul?
Ban
foxcyclist huntingAh, you've had enough of the following?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16nine/albums/72157594400316816/
You've lost me. Nice photos though
Simple mistake by the hunter and definitely not intentional, anyone could have thought that the cyclist was a fox. Especially when the sun was in their eyes, or they thought they'd just hit a cat or something.
..
I'm always extremely considerate of horse riders, slowing down and ringing my bell a few times to let them know I'm there, but if I see a bunch of Berkeley Hunts like these I'll think twice about being so kind in future.
It's interesting that the hunt group is still claiming the video needs to be verified when it already has been. That is assault.
Is it assault though if the whip strikes the bike and not the rider?
I'm asking as suddenly every time I've touched a car, I have by association, assaulted the driver.
It depends on whether the victim is afraid for their safety. I doubt very much whether drivers get scared that a cyclist is going to throw the car to one side, when the cyclist touches/hits a WING mirror. Someone aiming a whip that close to a rider is obviously trying to intimidate and cause a fearful reaction.
It's assault plain and simple. The bloke has used his height and size to intimidate another person. It's been a very deliberate action. The guy is a thug.
Does that equate to a legal definition of assault?
Oh its clearly deliberate, its clearly done to intimidate, but physical assault... I don't see it.
Assault doesn't require any contact with the victim, just making them fear it. You're thinking of battery.
Assault covers a large spectrum from threatening language through to serious injury. I'm nearly sure the guidelines consider the fact that if you think you're going to be attacked as the entry level for common assault. In this situation even the raising of a hand as a threatening gesture can be deemed as an attack. The fact that he has brought his arm down aggressively with a weapon (whip) will be considered as an attack whether he struck the individual or not.
OT, but reminded me of a recent weekend ride. Having recently and carefully overtaken some horses and riders on a narrow country lane, I signalled to an oncoming car to slow down. Driver simply hooted his horn at me. I then heard the inevitable shouts of the riders just behind me round the corner giving him an earful. I like to think he put 2 and 2 together afterwards and changed his ways, but...
I am one of those evil, entitled cyclists who don't have a bell, but I undertand talking to people that have horses that actually a cheerful, human voice is the best thing to alert a rider to your presence, as the horse will also recognise it as a human and therefore not a threat, reducing the risk of bolting.
Obviously this requires me to play a recording that fits this description, as cheerfulness is beyond my capabilities.
Self entitled tory twats; you can absolutely guarantee that. They are absolute kents!
I'm sure there is a simple explanation!
There is, and Legin just gave it.
Absolute Berkshire Hunts
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