More than 27,000 people have backed a petition calling for a prominent lawyer who clubbed a fox to death on Boxing Day to be prosecuted.
Jolyon Maugham QC, who is known for leading a series of legal actions over Brexit, triggered an angry backlash on Twitter on Thursday when he wrote: “Already this morning I have killed a fox with a baseball bat. How’s your Boxing Day going?”
The Good Law Project founder claimed the animal had “got caught up in the protective netting around the chickens” at his London home and he “wasn’t sure what else to do”.
He later apologised and told his 178,000 followers that he had reported himself to the RSPCA.
Mr Maugham also revealed he was wearing his wife’s green satin kimono and nursing a hangover when he clubbed the fox to death.
1/18 Storage centre workers in Bristol found a fox with his head stuck in the middle of an old tyre.
RSPCA/SWNS
2/18 A horse needed help after getting stuck in a cattle grid in Abertillery, Wales.
RSPCA/SWNS
3/18 A five-month-old’s parents were horrified when they found a 1m-long python slithering around their daughter’s nursery in Tadworth, Surrey.
RSPCA/SWNS
4/18 An embarrassed fox needed a helping hand after getting stuck in a tangle of ivy hanging from a garden fence in Soilhull, West Mids.
RSPCA/SWNS
5/18 A baby corn snake was found by a member of staff abandoned in a takeaway tub in a McDonalds in Middleborough.
RSPCA/SWNS
6/18 Rolls-Royce staff were shell-shocked after finding a turtle wandering through their Technology and Logistics Centre in West Sussex.
RSPCA/SWNS
7/18 A woman had a surprise after opening her kitchen drawer to find a snake inside in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
RSPCA/SWNS
8/18 A greedy squirrel got caught red-pawed with his hands in the cookie jar after getting trapped in a bird feed in Redditch, Worcestershire.
RSPCA/SWNS
9/18 A woman enjoying a bath had a fright when she spotting a slow worm poking his head poking out of an air vent in Bristol.
RSPCA/SWNS
10/18 A male roe deer found himself in a spot of bother when he got stuck in metal railings around St James Churchyard in Barlborough, Derbyshire.
RSPCA/SWNS
11/18 An elderly cat used one of his nine lives – after getting his leg stuck in a washing machine door at a home in Tipton, West Midlands.
RSPCA/SWNS
12/18 A woman was shocked to find a fox curled up in a wardrobe in her second-floor flat in Dagenham, London.
RSPCA/SWNS
13/18 A walker found a sheep having a baaaaad day – with her head stuck fast in a wire fence in Barnstaple.
RSPCA/SWNS
14/18 A woman from South Croydon had a shock when she heard strange noises coming from the bins at the front of her home – and found a tiny fox cub inside.
RSPCA/SWNS
15/18 A young seal found herself in quite an unusual predicament – on top of a 50m-high sea cliff at Abercastle
RSPCA/SWNS
16/18 A Cardiff taxi driver had an unexpected passenger on board after discovering a corn snake under the bonnet of a taxi.
RSPCA/SWNS
17/18 RSPCA and fire service teams were called to Bishop Auckland, County Durham, to rescue a ferret who got stuck in a waste pipe.
RSPCA/SWNS
18/18 An injured grey seal stumped RSPCA rescuers who were called to collect him – from the top of a 10ft high Second World War pillbox on Fraisthorpe Beach.
RSPCA/SWNS
1/18 Storage centre workers in Bristol found a fox with his head stuck in the middle of an old tyre.
RSPCA/SWNS
2/18 A horse needed help after getting stuck in a cattle grid in Abertillery, Wales.
RSPCA/SWNS
3/18 A five-month-old’s parents were horrified when they found a 1m-long python slithering around their daughter’s nursery in Tadworth, Surrey.
RSPCA/SWNS
4/18 An embarrassed fox needed a helping hand after getting stuck in a tangle of ivy hanging from a garden fence in Soilhull, West Mids.
RSPCA/SWNS
5/18 A baby corn snake was found by a member of staff abandoned in a takeaway tub in a McDonalds in Middleborough.
RSPCA/SWNS
6/18 Rolls-Royce staff were shell-shocked after finding a turtle wandering through their Technology and Logistics Centre in West Sussex.
RSPCA/SWNS
7/18 A woman had a surprise after opening her kitchen drawer to find a snake inside in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
RSPCA/SWNS
8/18 A greedy squirrel got caught red-pawed with his hands in the cookie jar after getting trapped in a bird feed in Redditch, Worcestershire.
RSPCA/SWNS
9/18 A woman enjoying a bath had a fright when she spotting a slow worm poking his head poking out of an air vent in Bristol.
RSPCA/SWNS
10/18 A male roe deer found himself in a spot of bother when he got stuck in metal railings around St James Churchyard in Barlborough, Derbyshire.
RSPCA/SWNS
11/18 An elderly cat used one of his nine lives – after getting his leg stuck in a washing machine door at a home in Tipton, West Midlands.
RSPCA/SWNS
12/18 A woman was shocked to find a fox curled up in a wardrobe in her second-floor flat in Dagenham, London.
RSPCA/SWNS
13/18 A walker found a sheep having a baaaaad day – with her head stuck fast in a wire fence in Barnstaple.
RSPCA/SWNS
14/18 A woman from South Croydon had a shock when she heard strange noises coming from the bins at the front of her home – and found a tiny fox cub inside.
RSPCA/SWNS
15/18 A young seal found herself in quite an unusual predicament – on top of a 50m-high sea cliff at Abercastle
RSPCA/SWNS
16/18 A Cardiff taxi driver had an unexpected passenger on board after discovering a corn snake under the bonnet of a taxi.
RSPCA/SWNS
17/18 RSPCA and fire service teams were called to Bishop Auckland, County Durham, to rescue a ferret who got stuck in a waste pipe.
RSPCA/SWNS
18/18 An injured grey seal stumped RSPCA rescuers who were called to collect him – from the top of a 10ft high Second World War pillbox on Fraisthorpe Beach.
RSPCA/SWNS
An RSPCA spokeswoman confirmed the animal welfare charity is aware of the “distressing” incident and that it is investigating, adding: “We’ve been made aware of this and are looking into it.”
However she said there is not likely to be any update for several weeks.
Tens of thousands of people added their names to an online petition calling for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to investigate the incident and to prosecute Mr Maugham “if appropriate”.
Government guidelines state cage traps and snares may be deployed to protect property from foxes and a person who uses them must “humanely kill any fox you catch while it’s in the trap or snare”.
After receiving a barrage of criticism, Mr Maugham said: “No one should relish killing animals – and I certainly didn’t – but if you haven’t been up close to a large trapped fox, perhaps reserve judgment.”
Matthew Scott, a lawyer who writes legal commentary on his website Barrister Blogger, said the “obvious offence to consider first” is a breach of the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act, which prohibits inflicting “unnecessary suffering” by beating.
The offence can be punishable with up to six months in prison, though Mr Scott said Mr Maugham could potentially argue killing the fox was necessary as to not do so would have “would have meant the fox suffering on the wire for longer”.
