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Rabbit shooter acquitted

Matthew Trefor Thomas was cleared at Mold Crown Court of possessing a rifle without a firearms certifcate

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By Will Finch

Saturday, 04 June 2011

The trial of a fieldsports enthusiast arrested by police after shooting a rabbit from his bedroom window took place last week

The trial of a fieldsports enthusiast who was handcuffed by an armed police squad after shooting at a rabbit from his bedroom window, has been described in court as a “gross overreaction”.

Matthew Trefor Thomas was arrested last year for possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life after a passer-by told police that he had pointed the rifle at her. He was later charged with possessing a rifle without a firearms certificate, but was acquitted last week at Mold Crown Court, in Flintshire, Wales.

Peter Glenser, who represented Mr Thomas in the trial, told the court: “The Firearms Act 1968 recognises there are legitimate occasions when someone can borrow a rifle that is held on someone else’s certificate. It does not define what ‘present’ means; what it does not mean is ‘supervised’. In other parts of the same Act, it uses the word when dealing with young people. If it meant ‘supervised’, it would say so.”

The rest of this article appears in 1st June issue of Shooting Times.

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