Jolyon Maugham shocks Twitter with Boxing Day revelation
Barrister and anti-Brexit campaigner Jolyon Maugham QC has sparked outrage after tweeting about clubbing a fox to death with a baseball bat on Boxing Day morning.
Already this morning I have killed a fox with a baseball bat. How's your Boxing Day going?
— Jo Maugham QC (@JolyonMaugham) December 26, 2019
Having shocked Twitter with the news, the tax law specialist went on to give further context, explaining that he was wearing his wife’s “too small green kimono” at the time and nursing a hangover. The fox had been caught in protective netting around a chicken coop in the garden of Maugham’s London home.
Some expressed concern that Maugham may have broken the law — although Matthew Scott, the Pump Court criminal barrister, added that his tweet was “tongue in cheek”.
The law is crystal clear. It is legal to kill foxes with an Eagle Owl, a Sealyham Terrier or a lethal injection, but not with a fox-hound or a baseball bat. https://t.co/h01U7TOzBv
— Matthew Scott (@Barristerblog) December 26, 2019
The RSPCA has said they have been made aware of the matter and are looking into it. Directing a further tweet to people concerned that he may have broken the law, Maugham added that he has called the RSPCA himself and left his contact details.
Others have found the funny side, with someone even launching a tribute Twitter account.
Still dead. Fuming.
— the fox Jolyon Maugham QC killed (@FoxJolyon) December 26, 2019
Returning to Twitter in the last few hours, Maugham apologised to those upset by his relaying of the incident, stating:
“Sorry to those upset by my tweet. My chickens were very distressed by the fox — both before and after I’d despatched it — and I wanted it out of the way quickly. I was slightly shocked by the whole tooth-and-claw experience when I tweeted and that was what I was trying to convey. But my tweet, one of a number about keeping chickens in urban London, should have conveyed that better. What’s especially unfortunate is that I’ve already started to investigate the enormous harm done by factory farming, with a view to acting in that space in 2020. It would be a pity if my misguided tweets inhibited that. I’ll try to do better.”
