A huntswoman went on trial accused of assaulting a hunt saboteur, allegedly striking her in the face with a mobile phone before her horse knocked the woman to the ground during a dispute over access to a field. The case, heard at Weymouth Magistrates' Court, centres on a confrontation between opposing sides of the long-running fox hunting debate and turns on whether the saboteur was legally on a public footpath at the time.

Sophie Tuffin, 40, who was hosting the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt on her family's estate in Dorset, denies assaulting Alexandra Dennis, a member of North Dorset Hunt Saboteurs, at Hile Farm near Puxey on 10 December 2024. Prosecutors say Tuffin hit Dennis with her phone during an argument over a map, leaving bruising to her face, and that her 750kg horse then struck Dennis, bruising her toes and lower leg. Dennis says bodycam footage and GPS data prove she was on a footpath; Tuffin denies using force and suggests Dennis fell over on her own accord. She has pleaded not guilty and the trial continues.