Man caught stabbing fox with pitchfork

Paul O’Shea, 49, set to be sentenced after exposure by anti-hunting campaigners

A man has admitted animal cruelty after being caught on video stabbing a fox with a pitchfork.

Paul O’Shea, 49, was exposed by anti-hunt campaigners on December 4 last year.

Hidden camera footage shows O’Shea dangling the fox by its tail and using a pitchfork to stab its neck.

The animal struggles desperately as O’Shea then pins it against a tree in woodland near Coggeshall, Essex.

On 22 June this year, O’Shea admitted to hunting a wild mammal with dogs and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court.

In the video, shared by North London Hunt Saboteurs, the fox is seen fighting with a small black dog after getting caught in netting.

O’Shea picks up the fox by its tail and removes the net before plunging a pitchfork into the animal’s neck.

The helpless fox tries to fight back before O’Shea forces it against a tree and again stabs with the pitchfork.

Paul O’Shea, 49, was caught on a hidden camera (North London Hunt Saboteurs/SWNS)

O’Shea, of Mount Bures, will be sentenced at the same court on 1 August.

SWNS