Darryl Cunnington, a former policeman, who had been monitoring the Belvoir Hunt in Leicestershire in 2016
A former policeman broke his neck after being punched then pushed down a 14ft slope while filming a fox hunt.
Darryl Cunnington was attacked by George Grant, 55, and his son Thomas Grant, 24, as he monitored the Belvoir Hunt in Leicestershire on March 12, 2016.
The League Against Cruel Sports investigator, who had served with Leicestershire Police for 29 years, suffered a broken vertebrae in his neck after being pushed off a ledge.
Fellow investigator Roger Swain was also seriously assaulted during the incident which happened at about 2.30pm off Toft’s Lane, Stathern, near Melton Mowbray.
Senior hunt member Grant and his son also stole the pair’s video cameras – seemingly to cover their tracks.
They launched the attack with four unidentified masked men, some of whom rode a quad bike, according to animal welfare charity the League Against Cruel Sports.
It took emergency services more than three hours to get Mr Cunnington onto a spinal board in a specialist vehicle due to the challenging terrain.
He had to wear a neck collar for about seven weeks after the assault.
Grant and his son, of Briary Cottage, Belvoir, appeared at Leicester Crown Court on Tuesday.
They admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cunnington and causing actual bodily harm to Mr Swain.
The pair also pleaded guilty to the theft of Mr Swain’s video camera and damaging a digital memory card. They will be sentenced on June 14.
Mr Cunnington being treated by the emergency services. He suffered a broken vertebrae in his neck after the attack
Judge Jinder Singh Boora released the Grants on unconditional bail, saying: ‘You’ve pleaded guilty to very serious offences.
‘I’m adjourning because there are character witnesses who can give evidence on behalf of you both and that’s something a judge can take into account in deciding what the sentence will be.
‘I make it clear that all sentencing options will be available to the court.’
Emergency services during the rescue, which took more than three hours due to the challenging terrain
Fox hunting with dogs has been banned in England and Wales since 2004 when the Hunting Act was introduced.
There was no report that the Belvoir Hunt was acting unlawfully on the day of the incident.
Mr Swain said outside court: ‘It would be nice to see a custodial sentence given the seriousness of the offences and it was an unprovoked attack.’
Mr Cunnington said: ‘Hopefully this will send out a message to all hunts that they cannot carry out assaults on people who wish to monitor their activities.
‘I am very lucky that the assault has left me with no long-term serious injuries. After falling 14 feet, finding myself unable to move, I feared I was paralysed.
‘The offenders showed no remorse and left us injured.’
A stock image of the Belvoir Hunt. Mr Cunnington and Mr Swain had been monitoring the hunt’s activities before they were assaulted
He previously told the Leicester Mercury: ‘We’d set up in woods next to the Jubilee Way path near Stathern about half or three-quarters of a mile from where the hunt was.
‘It’s a good vantage point and you can see for about 15 miles, and the cameras we have can film from up to a mile away.
‘We operate covertly – the hunts often don’t know we’re there.
‘We see what they’re up to, whether they’re hunting illegally and, if they are, gather video evidence and write statements to pass on to the police.’
He also said after the attack: ‘We travel all over the country monitoring the activities of hunts, on about 150 occasions, and I’ve never been attacked before.
‘We sometimes get a bit of verbal grief, but the hunts generally treat us differently to the hunt saboteurs because we’re professionals doing a job.’