Bassetlaw man filmed slashing hunt saboteur’s tyres but denied carrying blade

The Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs were monitoring the Grove and Rufford Hunt during a meet in Laxton, on January 7, last year, when John Partridge ran at one of the group with two other men, all wearing balaclavas, Nottingham Crown Court was told.

Their intended target, who was part of an eight-strong group of protesters, drove off but stopped nearby because he didn’t want to scare the hunt’s horses.

Partridge, aged 21, was spotted holding a silver knife and slashing the rear left and right tyres of the vehicle used by the saboteurs. Pushing and shoving broke out between the two groups until a supporter of the hunt said: “Not in front of the children.”

Partidge and his two friends walked away, but one of the saboteurs yanked off his balaclava and he was picked out of an identity parade. In a statement, his victim said: “I was scared I was going to get beaten up and worried about what would happen if things were to escalate.”

Partridge, of Knott End, Langold, admitted criminal damage and was found guilty of possessing a knife in a public place after a trial at Nottingham Magistrates Court in October, last year.

Benn Robinson, mitigating, said Partidge, of previous good character, was “raised in an environment where blood sports are held in high regard.”

“The people on the saboteur side very often don't come to the party with clean hands themselves,” he said. “There have been many occasion where tensions have flared up since but he has not once involved himself in them.

Mr Robinson said Partridge has found a job but hasn't started yet for fear of letting his employer down if he is jailed today.

On Thursday Judge Steven Coupland told him: “I have no doubt people were frightened you might pull the knife out.”

He handed Partidge a two-year community order with 20 rehabilitation days and an electronically-tagged curfew. He was ordered to pay £390 compensation.

A spokesperson for Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs said: “Violence will never deter us from saving animals that are hunted by the Grove and Rufford, such violent attacks only make our resolve and determination stronger.”