A violent thug who was caught on camera punching a hunt saboteur in the face has been spared jail.
Philip Walters, of the North London Saboteurs, had been monitoring a meet of the Pytchley Hunt in Cottesbrook, Northants, on March 18 last year when he was attacked while he was sitting in his car.
Marc Birney, 43, approached the vehicle and banged on the driver’s door window shouting: “Knock, knock!”.
When Mr Walters wound down his window, Birney reached in, snatched his sunglasses from his head and punched him twice to the side of his face.
A court heard Birney only stopped when other members of the North London Hunt Saboteurs went to intervene.
Birney then got back into his black Ford Puma with another man and a woman and drove away from the scene.
Mr Walters suffered minor injuries. Following a police investigation, Birney, of Pipewell, Northants, was charged with one count of assault by beating.
He pleaded not guilty to the offence but was convicted following a trial at Northampton Magistrates’ Court on June 12.
On October 3 he was fined £300, ordered to pay the victim £200 compensation and ordered to pay other costs totalling £320.
The lead investigator for Northamptonshire Police branded the sentence "disappointing".
PC Chloe Gillies of the Rural Crime Team, said: “I am pleased Marc Birney was found guilty of this offence at court as this type of behaviour is totally unacceptable and there is never an excuse to assault someone.
“Although the sentence is disappointing, I understand the limitations that resulted in it and I hope the victim in this case feels some sense of justice at Birney being convicted of his crime.
“This was an unprovoked attack on the victim and Birney is fortunate that his actions didn’t have more serious consequences.
"Violence is not tolerated and as a force, we will always pursue criminal action against any offender.”
Giving evidence during the trial, Mr Walters told how we was attacked while monitoring the hunt on the last day of the hunting season.
He said: “I was parked up on the left hand side of the road sat in the driver’s seat, listening to the radio.
"A car pulled up in front of us with a masked man. Mr Birney got out of the car.
"He walked around to the driver’s door. He knocked on the window and said ‘knock, knock’. He then knocked my wing mirror back.
"I wound the window down to move it back. He snatched my sunglasses off my head and made contact with my head.
"Then he punched me twice in my jaw. I felt a sharp pain and the area swelled up 24 hours afterwards.”
A spokesperson for the North London Hunt Saboteurs said after the case: "We have this to say to Mr Birney; despite your lenient sentence today, we have won.
"We are happy to put you on our mantlepiece next to the other useful idiots we have secured convictions against.
"Our member would like to thank our supporters and other saboteur groups we work with.
"We will never be intimidated away from protecting defenceless animals by the likes of Marc Birney."
The Pytchley with Woodland Hunt traces its origins back to the 1700s and is based in the village of Brixworth.
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