A Cornish hunt master found guilty after a cat was killed by hounds has had his appeal refused.

John Lanyon Sampson, who lives on a farm in St Buryan, Cornwall, was originally found guilty in December at Truro Magistrates Court of being the owner/person in charge of dogs dangerously out of control in a private or public place.

His hounds killed Mini, a 14-year-old rescue cat, outside her owner’s home on a housing estate in Madron, near Penzance and his son threw the body over a fence.

The court heard that on March 6, 2021 hounds from the Western Hunt were being exercised by Sampson and his son Edward on horseback.

Six or seven hounds broke away from the pack and ran into a cul-de-sac on the Trafalgar Fields Estate.

The dogs spotted and pursued a 14-year-old cat called Mini belonging to Carly Jose.

Footage filmed by neighbour Charlie Knight showed them corner her near some fencing outside her house where she was attacked and suffered "catastrophic and unsurvivable injuries".

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In a statement read out in court, neighbour Peter Nicholls said he armed himself with a stick before going outside to see what was happening as he was worried about what the dogs would do.

Sampson's son Edward was then filmed arriving on foot and calling off the hounds before throwing the Mini's body over the fence into a neighbour's garden and then heading back to the stables.

Sampson had told police during interview that he was responsible for the hounds not his son.

Sampson had appealed against the conviction on the grounds that the dogs were not dangerously out of control when they attacked the cat as they had not presented any danger to any person and had appeared indifferent to any other person there.

But an appeal panel headed by his honour Judge Simon Carr found that the dogs were dangerously out of control because any reasonable person would be under the apprehension that they were dangerous under the act and the conviction stood.

"Dealing with this appeal under the dangerous dogs act we are left with the question do we find that this dog was dangerously out of control? We do," he said.

"All of the factors, that it was a pack of dogs, the distance they had moved from those who had control over them, their actions surrounding the killing of the animal, the reactions of people one of whom armed themselves.

"It is a fact specific decision we are quite sure these dogs were dangerously out of control and in these circumstances the appeal against conviction is refused."

Sampson was also ordered to pay £340 prosecution costs.