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Rapist and Cheshire Hunt supporter fails to get nine year prison sentence cut
18 JAN 2018

A farmer told his fleeing victim she was ‘not going anywhere’ before raping her over a table, top judges have heard.

Anthony Ronald Kirkham, of Wrexham Road, Ridley, Tarporley, was convicted of rape and jailed for nine years at Chester Crown Court on April 21 last year.

But today the 73-year-old challenged his sentence at London’s Appeal Court, claiming his punishment was much too tough.

Mr Justice Garnham said he attempted to kiss his victim on the neck, but she said ‘no’ and tried to run away.

Kirkham would not be put off, however, and grabbed her hand, telling her she was ‘not going anywhere’.

The terrified victim ‘froze’ and Kirkham bent her over a table and raped her, said the judge.

She was ‘vulnerable’ as she had been drinking earlier in the evening of the attack.

Lawyers for Kirkham argued today (Thursday, January 18) that his his jail term should be cut.

They pointed to his age, his ‘ailing’ health and the conviction leading to the loss of his farm.

He had no previous convictions of a ‘similar nature’, the court was told.

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Kirkhams previous criminal record that we know of

1987: Jailed after driving his cattle truck at a car containing his then wife and a man with whom she was associating.

1993: Anthony Kirkham and Geoffrey Parks of the Cheshire Hounds hunt, found guilty of violent disorder. Kirkham and Park with a group of men attacked a mini-bus containing hunt saboteurs using pick axe handles. Smashed up mini-bus, one sab was punched in the face and kicked on the floor, while another – Suzanne McGowan – whilst running for help was caught by Kirkham who then beat and kicked her to the ground. 12 months sentence suspended.

1998: Jailed for 15 months for his part in what the judge described as the ‘cruel beating’ of a L.A.C.S. monitor, during a meet of the Cheshire Hounds. The man was chased across a field, sprayed in the face with a liquid, hit over the head with a bottle and repeatedly kicked in the head when he fell. Kirkham told the man, “we’ve got you now, you’re dead’ as he pulled him to his feet and ripped a camera worth £1,300 from his neck. Judge Gerald Elias QC told Kirkham “That it was a serious offence of robbery which involved targeted and to an extent organised violence” and “You were involved in a most serious assault”.

2003: A father and son were charged with assaulting two police officers outside Nantwich Civic Hall in January 2003. Anthony Kirkham (then 58) and his son Timothy (then 20) both of Ridley Farm, Tarporley, are keen supporters of the Cheshire Hounds and Cheshire Forest hunts were arrested outside the civic hall, which was staging the Cheshire Hounds Farmers Hunt Ball. Both men were charged with actual bodily harm, and resisting or obstructing a constable in the execution of duty.

2003: Fined £17,000 for persistently ignoring disease control regulations (F&M). 76 offences in total 2002-2003.

2011: Fined £600 for breaching TB restrictions on moving cattle in breach of DEFRA TB restrictions seved by DEFRA in June 2009 after TB confirmed in a cow originating from his Ridley Farm. Admitted 87 offences between January & June 2010 period. His son Nicholas also fined for 37 identical offences.

2013: Given a four month custodial sentence (suspended) after pleading guilty to 8 offences of breaching TB restrictions on cattle movement. (2012 period).

North West Hunt Saboteurs Association

07960 038230
www.nwhsa.org.uk

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