Two Necton men among four to face trial related to hunting offences after group of dogs enter Hingham garden and kill fox

Two Necton men are set to face a trial accused of multiple offences related to hunting after a pack of hounds entered a private garden and killed a fox earlier this year.

It comes after Edward Bell, 30, and Adam Egginton, 22, both of Moor Lane, entered not guilty pleas to a range of offences at Norwich Magistrates’ Court last month.

The men were charged after police were called to Hingham, between Watton and Wymondham, shortly after 3.30pm on Monday, February 20 following reports that a group of dogs had entered the garden of a private property and killed a fox.

Following enquiries, officers arrested three men in connection with the incident, with a total of five men charged in May.

On June 23, Bell, Eggington and Andrew Kendall, 66, of Hulver Road in Henstead, near Beccles, denied three counts of criminal damage to a property in Hingham, two counts of hunting a wild mammal with dogs in Hingham on February 20 and Tittleshall on February 8, two counts of owning or being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control (no injury) in Hingham on February 20 and Tittleshall on February 8, and a further count of owning or being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control (no injury).

Eggington and Kendall also pleaded not guilty to intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of a summary offence.

Robert Gurney, 53, of Bawdswell near Dereham, denied hunting a wild mammal with dogs and owning or being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control.

The Tittleshall charges relate to an incident on February 8 when a member of the public reported seeing several horse riders next to a field in Tittleshall together with a large pack of dogs following a fox into a hedgerow.

A three-day trial is set to take place at Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court on July 15, August 18, and August 19, 2024.