Hunting with dogs charge dropped

A second prosecution for hunting with dogs has been dropped

A second attempt to prosecute a Borders huntsman on a charge of hunting with dogs has been dropped.

Trevor Adams, 47, was acquitted in the first Scottish trial of its kind in 2004 but charged again a year later.

It followed public complaints about an incident on farmland at Eccles near Kelso on 10 October last year.

Borders procurator fiscal Graham Fraser confirmed that he would be taking no further proceedings in the case and the matter was closed.

Mr Adams and fellow hunt members - who now operate as a pest control service - were invited onto the Roxburghshire farm in October 2005.

Concern was raised about the pursuit of a fox which was subsequently killed.

Charged again

Under the new law dogs may only be used to drive a fox towards waiting guns.

It is legal to shoot the animals but not to allow them to be hunted or killed by hounds.

Following complaints from the public, Lothian and Borders police charged Mr Adams with breaching the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act.

If convicted he faced a fine of up to £5,000 or six months in jail.

However, the procurator fiscal has now decided to take the case no further.