Father and son admit pushing ex-police officer down slope during fox hunt

A former policeman was punched by two men and then pushed down a 14ft slope while monitoring a fox hunt.

George Grant, 55, and his son Thomas Grant, 24, attacked League Against Cruel Sports professional investigator Darryl Cunnington in March 2016.

Mr Cunnington suffered a broken neck after the incident - which also saw fellow investigator Roger Swain seriously assaulted.

The two victims were attacked by the men while they were observing the Belvoir Hunt in Leicestershire and were eventually pushed off the escarpment.

The investigators also had their video cameras stolen by the defendants - who launched the attack with the assistance of four unidentified masked men, the League Against Cruel Sports has said.

At Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday, George Grant, a senior hunt member, and his son pleaded guilty to charges of grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm, theft of a video camera and criminal damage of a memory card.

The pair, of Belvoir, Leicestershire, will be sentenced on June 14.

The convictions come 13 years after fox hunting was banned in England and Wales following the introduction of the Hunting Act 2004 - which came into force a year later.

After the hearing, Mr Cunnington, said: "Hopefully this will send out a message to all hunts that they cannot carry out assaults on people who wish to monitor their activities."

He added: "I am very lucky that the assault has left me with no long-term serious injuries. After falling 14 feet, finding myself unable to move, I feared I was paralysed. The offenders showed no remorse and left us injured."