A leading hunt in the midlands has been cleared of failing to control its hounds. At a special sitting of Athlone Court yesterday, Judge Terence Finn said he was not satisfied there was enough evidence to convict Mr James Norton who was in charge of the South Westmeath Hunt hounds at Williamstown, Moate, on February 8th, 1998.
The court was told by Mr Norton of Athboy, Co Meath, how local farmer Mr Aidan Farrell approached him in a pub on the evening of the hunt, claiming there were "hounds wild all over the countryside" and that they had attacked his sheep. Mr Norton said Mr Farrell later told him his brothers were using tractors to pull dead sheep out of a drain.