Hampshire: Police investigating after dozens of dead animals dumped outside shop
People in a sleepy village in Hampshire say it is “horrifying” that dozens of dead animals were left strewn outside a shop.
Warning: This story contains images and descriptions readers may find distressing
The bodies of around 50 dead hares were discovered by a member of staff who had gone to open up Broughton Community Shop early on Friday morning.
“It was bedlam, it was just covered in dead hares, all the way across this paving here, horrifying,” the shop’s treasurer Mike Hensman told Sky News.
“And on the door there was a dead raptor, bird of prey, and an owl impaled on the door handles. And there was blood everywhere.”
He described how shocked staff and villagers had to remove the remains.
“We cleared it all up, got the police in, had to wash all the windows down and get rid of everything.
“We got a local farmer here to get rid of all the dead hares and we just got on with business because that’s what you do in a community. We’re servicing the community. We just had to keep going.”
He believes the shop was targeted because the entrance is “tucked away”.
Dead pheasants found outside Awbridge Primary School in a another incident in February. Pic: Solent Photo Agency
“A shop on the high street you wouldn’t have been able to do it because there would have been cars going by. It’s tucked away so someone’s able to get a car round here and have a party with some dead hares. It’s ridiculous.
“It made entertainment for them and caused a problem for us… it could have been anywhere.”
It’s not the first time the local area has been targeted. Carcasses of pheasants, chickens and hares were dumped outside Awbridge Primary School, around six miles from Broughton, last month.
Tony Lowry, a local wildlife and conservation warden, has pictures of dead hares discarded on roads close to Andover from about 18 months ago. He believes rival criminal groups who travel from outside the area are to blame.
“They just dump them and they do this for effect because someone’s going to find them and they know it’s going to cause outrage and it is – it’s outrageous what they do,” he said.
He believes it’s driven by gambling: “Money, betting between groups, that’s basically what it’s about…How many animals they’re going to kill in one night, how big an animal?
“We’ve had instances of deers’ ears being chopped off to prove they’ve actually got them, taken them away. We find piles of animals with no ears, we have done in the past. Terrible.
“I’m a country person, I’m a gamekeeper and so my work does involve killing, but that is just killing for no reason at all.”
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Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, told Sky News poachers have been blighting rural communities across the country for decades.
The worst cases have been in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, he said, but it happens “anywhere where there are hares”.
“There’s a section of society who – whether it’s poaching, theft – generally seem to disregard the law and do pose a really significant threat to rural communities,” he said.
“This is on the edge of organised criminal gangs, and this is part of their leisure activity if you like.”
But he said it is difficult to police.
“A conviction or prosecution for hare poaching is seen as a badge of honour amongst some people who are involved in this activity, you know, they really don’t care about the criminal law,” he said.
Hampshire police are investigating the incident in Broughton. The local Conservative councillor, Alison Johnston, says forces across the country need to focus more on rural crime.
“I would love the police to do more. I would love more attention to be paid to the types of rural crime that we’re experiencing,” she told Sky News.
“Sadly I think it’s an issue of prioritisation. There’s so much going on in the urban areas in terms of burglaries, I think sometimes rural crime is left to one side.”
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police said the animals were collected and officers are investigating.
The force is trying to identify the owners of a silver Suzuki Grand Vitara.
Nigel Farage has told Sky News he “can’t be pushed or bullied” by anybody after Elon Musk said the Reform MP “doesn’t have what it takes” to lead his party.
In an interview with Sky’s political correspondent Ali Fortescue, Mr Farage said he has spoken with the billionaire owner of X since his criticism on 5 January, when Mr Musk said: “The Reform Party needs a new leader. Farage doesn’t have what it takes.”
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Asked if the pair are still friends, Mr Farage said: “Of course we’re friends. He just says what he thinks at any moment in time.”
He added he has “been in touch” with Mr Musk, though wouldn’t divulge what they had discussed.
“Look, he said lots of supportive things. He said one thing that wasn’t supportive. I mean, that’s just the way it is,” Mr Farage said.
Musk and Farage met in December. Pic: PA
Asked if he was afraid to criticise the tech mogul, the Clacton MP said the situation was “the opposite”, and he openly disagreed with Mr Musk on his views on far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
Mr Farage said: “What he [Musk] was saying online was that effectively Tommy Robinson was a political prisoner and I wouldn’t go along with that.
“If I had gone along with that, he wouldn’t have put out a tweet that was against me.
“By the way, you know, I can’t be pushed or bullied or made to change by anybody.
“I stick to what I believe.”
Mr Musk has endorsed Robinson and claimed he was “telling the truth” about grooming gangs, writing on X: “Free Tommy Robinson”.
But Mr Farage said that Robinson, who is serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, isn’t welcome in Reform UK and neither are his supporters.
He said: “If people within Reform think Tommy Robinson should be a member of Reform and play a central role in Reform, that disagreement is absolutely fundamental.
“I’ve never wanted to work with people who were active in the BNP. I’ve made that clear right throughout the last decade of my on/off political career. So that’s what the point of difference is.”
Despite their disagreement, Mr Farage said he is confident Mr Musk will continue to support Reform and “may well” still give money to it.
The entrepreneur has previously spoken positively about Reform UK and there have been suggestions he could make a multi-million-pound donation in its favour.
Devolution plans ‘denial of democracy’
Mr Farage was speaking from Reform’s South East of England Conference, one of a series of regional events aimed at building up the party’s support base.
Elsewhere in the interview, he hit out at the Labour government’s devolution plans which could see some local elections scheduled for May postponed.
This would apply when councils seek permission to reorganise, so that smaller district authorities merge with other nearby ones to give them more sway over their area.
Mr Farage, who is hoping to make gains in the spring contests, claimed the plans are not about devolution but about “elections being cancelled”.
“I thought only dictators cancelled elections. This is unbelievable and devolution or a change to local government structures is being used as an excuse,” he said.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage earlier this month. Pic: PA
He claimed Tory-controlled councils are “grabbing it like it’s a life belt”, because they fear losing seats to Reform.
“It’s an absolute denial of democracy,” he added.
Mr Farage was also asked why many Reform members don’t like to speak on camera about why they support his party.
He said he did not accept there was a toxicity associated with Reform and claimed there was “institutional bias against anybody that isn’t left of centre”.
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
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