Top barrister sparks Twitter storm after claiming he ‘killed a FOX with a baseball bat’

A top barrister has sparked a Twitter row after claiming he ‘killed a fox with a baseball bat’ this morning. 

Jolyon Maugham QC revealed that he ‘dispatched’ the animal the morning after Christmas in his central London garden wearing his wife’s satin kimono.

He said he bought the baseball bat to ‘discourage intruders’ but ended up using it to kill the fox caught in the protective netting around his chickens – who were left ‘a little anxious but otherwise well’. 

Mr Maugham, an outspoken remain-backing lawyer and occasional newspaper columnist, tweeted: ‘Already this morning I have killed a fox with a baseball bat. How’s your Boxing Day going?’ 

Social media users were divided as to whether Mr Maugham’s response was appropriate, with some finding the post amusing and others branding it ‘vile’. 

Mr Maugham, an outspoken remain-backing lawyer and newspaper columnist, tweeted: ‘Already this morning I have killed a fox with a baseball bat. How’s your Boxing Day going?’

Some detractors started tweeting using the hashtag #JolyonTheFoxKiller – and the lawyer revealed that he had received abusive messages.

He said: ‘No one should relish killing animals – and I certainly didn’t. But if you haven’t been up close to a large trapped fox, perhaps reserve judgment.

‘To those concerned I have broken the law, I called and spoke to the RSPCA and left my contact details.’

A Twitter user with the handle ‘Undercover Cheshire Housewife’ told Mr Maugham: ‘I am hugely disappointed in you and you have lost my respect. 

‘Couldn’t you have sent for the RSPCA to untangle it and release it? Just because you keep chickens doesn’t mean you have to destroy wildlife.’

The lawyer responded: ‘I didn’t especially enjoy killing it but I imagine that’s what the RSPCA would have done, if they had anyone on call in Central London on Boxing Day.’

RSPCA England and Wales responded to Mr Maugham’s post: ‘This is distressing to hear. 

‘We’d urge anyone with firsthand knowledge to report it to us by calling 0300 1234 999.’ 

Mr Maugham, who spearheaded a campaign to try to mount a legal challenge to see if Brexit can be reversed, was called to the bar in 1997 and made a Queen’s Counsel in 2015.

Mr Maugham, pictured outside the Court of Session on October 7, in Edinburgh, was called to the bar in 1997 and made a Queen’s Counsel in 2015

‘Imagine me, slightly post-Xmas in Claire’s kimono, wielding bat in urban garden’: Twitter users were divided on whether the QC’s response was appropriate

RSPCA England and Wales responded to Mr Maugham’s post: ‘This is distressing to hear’

Barrister blogger Matthew Scott said the law was ‘crystal clear’, adding: ‘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’

He has been behind a string of legal challenges to Brexit and has previously backed Gina Miller’s High Court battle to force the Government to give MPs a vote on triggering Article 50. 

One Twitter user said: ‘Not even slightly funny. What a vile tweet.’

Another said: ‘Can’t help wishing you had kept this to yourself.’

A third added: ‘This definitely gives the impression of almost boasting about it, which I’m afraid reads as really unpleasant.’

Twitter user Henry Hill asked Mr Maugham if he was in a dressing gown or on a horse while dealing with the fox.

He responded: ‘I was in a kimono.’

Ben Watson said: ‘Samurai style,’ to which Mr Maugham replied: ‘Sort of…’

Another social media user, Ahriman Angra Mainyu, said: ‘[The fox] was just hungry and following instincts. At least be a proper farmer and get a gun, let’s hope your own end won’t be as painful as poor foxie.’

Another social media user, Ahriman Angra Mainyu, said: ‘[The fox] was just hungry and following instincts. At least be a proper farmer and get a gun, let’s hope your own end won’t be as painful as poor foxie.’

Mr Maugham, director of The Good Law Project, replied: ‘Not sure guns are a great idea in central London.’

Twitter user Hazel Haywood said: ‘Maybe chickens in central London aren’t such a great idea!’

Mr Maugham said: ‘If I want to keep chickens I’ll keep chickens.’

He added: ‘I shoot rabbits for food too; and butcher them. I think it’s quite important for anyone who eats meat to have a sense of what’s actually involved.’

Barrister blogger Matthew Scott said the law was ‘crystal clear’, adding: ‘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.’

Mr Maugham said: ‘Only ”with intent to inflict unnecessary suffering”…’