Jolyon Maugham lets slip

I must say that makes it even weirder.

twitter.com/elleandback/status/1210147900791148545?s=20

Link to earlier kimono and bat incident

Re; the releasing "trapped" foxes, that refers to animals you have intentionally trapped. You may not trap it and then release it to shoot it/let your dogs chase or fight it etc.

If you find a fox stuck in netting, or your shed, or a garden or whatever, of course you can just let it out. You don't need to keep it or kill it.

You aren't supposed to release grey squirrels because they are an invasive non-native animal.

Firstly, the RSPCA are always on duty and have confirmed this in their tweets so that’s a load of bullshit. Secondly, he says he went out in his wife’s kimono to do it, suggesting he’d run out in a hurry. So you’re saying he had time to call the RSPCA etc but couldn’t chuck some clothes on? Convenient.

There’s also a tweet from him from months ago where he also claimed to have run out in the garden with the baseball bat in a kimono in order to get rid of a fox. That time, there wasn’t a fox there. It’s obvious that the bat is his go-to weapon.

I think he thought his followers would find it jolly hilarious but instead they turned on him. The claim that he called the RSPCA which has come out since people have told him he committed a crime is an attempt to cover his tracks.

He didn't try very hard to get help, could have called the Fox Project and someone would have come out to sort it out. They have loads of volunteers in London. Also what sort of idiot has netting round their coop rather than a proper secure enclosure?

Glad to see him getting some heat for it, these sort of selfrighteous people think they're beyond censure.

What anyone might think of the morality, barbarity and unnecessary cruelty of clubbing a fox to death, it IS illegal.

To be fair to him, there are legal reasons why it's implausible he'd have a .22 and a gun safe. It looks like he attempted to contact RSPCA Central London and there was no response/duty cover.

I wouldn't have the strength to be confident that I could deliver a killing blow. I've no idea what I would do and would be horrified to think that I allowed an injured, trapped animal to live in terror and alarm while I was dithering.

Where does it say you must kill them? I think you may have misunderstood. I think that if you are going to kill them you must do so humanely. I also presume you can’t free a seriously injured animal that has been caught in a trap.

If in doubt, call the RSPCA

Best reply so far “presumably the hens could have just tutted loudly and moved away”

Lots of people gunning for him from the animal welfare angle, discussions on which law(s) this contravenes.

More trending

Why can’t you release trapped foxes ? Don’t know anything about this law.

I can imagine killing a fox to put it out of its misery. Actually I can’t as I’m too squeamish but I can imagine it being the right thing to do if it was really hurt. And better than letting it limp away badly wounded.

Funny how this is what gets him trending. Not abusing women and giving away rights that don’t belong to him.

The law states that "you must humanely kill" trapped foxes and must not release them.

Presumably that's foxes caught in traps, not foxes caught in netting?

The law states that "you must humanely kill" trapped foxes and must not release them.

If you've freed and released trapped foxes then you were breaking the law. Same with grey squirrels.

Whether or not the method he used was humane is separate (and yes, obviously important).

I have wondered how someone could get to be a QC with so little apparent intelligence and judgement. Very naive of me I know. The tweet today has explained more of his character.
What anyone might think of the morality, barbarity and unnecessary cruelty of clubbing a fox to death, it IS illegal. He is a barrister, a QC and publicly boasted in his tweet about this. I think he is very stupid. No doubt he feels the arrogant immunity from the consequences of his actions that the privileged and wealthy often tend to.

I think he tweets just to get the outraged reaction. I believe he does/believes what he tweets, but he’s turning/has turned into a version of Katie Hopkins.

Having said that, who the hell batters a fox to death because they got entangled in mesh? That’s what thick gloves and clippers are for. We dealt with plenty raccoons, porcupines and the odd skunk growing up who had got themselves into a bit of a pickle. Never had to kill any.

I can't get my head round why he would tweet about this. Clearly it's going to attract anger from some animal rights people whether or not it was the best thing to do under the circumstances. Wouldn't you have to have a really fucked up relationship with Twitter to feel the need to overshare that? Attention at any price.

Jolyon is currently trending in the UK.

I would find it surprising that he tweet boasted with such unawareness but sadly I don't.

When someone shows you who they are etc...

I saw that. That's quite nasty.

I live in the country. Animals I have freed entanglement:

Pigeons
Blackbird
Owl
Goat x 2
Horse
Foxhound
Collie
Greyhound
Rabbit
Deer
Fox cub

Animals I had to beat to death to untangle:

Really bigoted to call what is clearly a trans chicken a fox. It might have been brutally assigned fox at birth but did you know that the fox-chicken binary is actually socially constructed?

am shocked Jolyon was so keen to assume that the fox, once in the hen-house, would behave in a manner that was threatening towards the chickens.
This is straightforward bigotry, based on isolated and unrepresentative incidents.

great responses!

The chickens should have just tutted

Did he check if the fox identified as a hen? If so, he should have let it in the henhouse.

I dislike this man in a truly visceral way.

He does seem pretty horrible.

I suppose he would argue that he was putting the fox out of its misery. I don't know the details of the situation but I like to think that in the same situation I would attempt to free the fox by cutting away the netting.

I don't suppose he'll be prosecuted as people like that are well-connected enough to get themselves out of any trouble.

Attention seeking fucking fuckwit.

No, Jolyon, you don't look like a manly man in touch with the realities of nature.

You look like a twat who didn't protect his hens properly. What if it had been your neighbour's cat? Would you have clubbed that to death too? I live in the country. We quite often get deer blundering about. Is a deer clubbable too?

I dislike this man in a truly visceral way.

Glad to see he has been reported.

To the police? I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

www.gov.uk/guidance/foxes-moles-and-mink-how-to-protect-your-property-from-damage

Any foxes, moles and mink that you catch are protected under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. You can be jailed and fined up to £20,000 for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

Illegal control methods
You must only use control methods set out in this guidance. Failure to do so could mean you face a jail sentence of up to 6 months and a fine of up to £5,000.

Beating it to death with a baseball bat isn't mentioned as a control method, and it's almost certain to cause unnecessary suffering.

Looks like a hefty fine and possible jail sentence.

I've got a screenshot if he decides it was unwise to tweet about his own criminal behaviour.

Also archived here.
<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20191226112403/twitter.com/JolyonMaugham" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">web.archive.org/web/20191226112403/twitter.com/JolyonMaugham