POLICE were accused of bias in favour of fox-hunters yesterday following the acquittal of four hunt saboteurs charged with aggravated trespass for attempting to aid a wounded deer.

The deer had been attacked by hounds of the Surrey Union Hunt last October when sabs ran to its aid.

Police said there was no evidence it had been attacked by the hunt before allowing the toffs to shoot and kill it.

But leading vet Professor Andrew Knight submitted a report to the trial saying wounds were “highly consistent” with a dog attack.

District Judge Turner told the four defendants: “You deserve high praise for managing yourselves and your behaviour.”

He added that if they had been allowed access to the deer instead of being arrested it may well have been saved.

Surrey Police announced online it “is currently in the process of reviewing the force approach to hunting and the findings from this case and any lessons learned will be considered as part of the review.”

The acquitted sabs added that as fox-hunting has been illegal since 2004 this statement was far from satisfactory.