Hunt Saboteur sentenced to two months prison for blowing a horn

waterford | environment | press release Sunday June 22, 2003 16:10 by hsa - Hunt Saboteurs Assoc.

PRESS RELEASE .
From The Association of Hunt Saboteurs.

OUTRAGE as our CAMPAIGNS DIRECTOR JOHN TIERNEYis sentenced to TWO MONTHS IN JAIL for using an AIR HORN at the St Stephens Day Anti- Hunt Protest.

Anti hunting activists are outraged at the TWO MONTH jail sentence imposed today at Waterford District Court on John Tierney, a leading anti hunt campaigner.He is Campaigns Director of the AOHS.

The Judge also said that if Mr Tierney appealed the sentence he hoped it would be increased to THREE Months instead of Two .The judge Mr William Harnett is well known for his pro hunt comments. This leaning further came to light when he said at the comparison of the air horn to the hunting horn ' it was not like the slow sweet sound of the hunting horn.'

The trumped up, so called offence was supposedly a 'public order offence ' which as far as we are concerned was ludicrous and a blatant discriminatory charge against all anti hunting activists.

It related to the St Stephens Day protest in Waterford which appeared on RTE news along with the Association of Hunt Saboteurs other protest in Kells that Day. The summons arrived at Mr Tierneys door some months later.

*If its illegal to use air horns which are sold legally in joke shops throughout the country for football matches and other such events why are'nt football supporters being arrested ?

We will fight this every step of the way," Mr Tierney hopefully will appeal tomorrow. Its a sad day when someone standing up to animal abusers is treated like a common criminal in a blatant attempt to stop protests at foxhunts."

Another of William Harnetts comments was that if 'someone near Mr Tierney at the protest had assaulted him, he(the person assaulting him) would not have been charged"