A HUNTSMAN has been jailed for six months after he repeatedly barged a woman hunt monitor off her feet while he was on horseback.

Christopher Marles acted like an "arrogant, cowardly, drunken lout" when he attacked 61-year-old Helen Weeks, Exeter Crown Court was told yesterday.

The court activated a suspended sentence, which had been in operation at the time of the offence, for an earlier assault when Marles beat up hunt monitor Kevin Hill, leaving him needing stitches.

But after the hearing, Ms Weeks and her supporters said they were disappointed with the leniency of the sentence, which they said gave out the "wrong message" about violence towards hunt monitors.

Marles, 47, knocked Ms Weeks to the ground three times as she filmed the activities of the East Devon Hunt at Broadclyst, East Devon, last March.

The attack was caught on camera, and the footage shows Marles apparently smiling as he purposefully steers his horse towards his victim, knocking her into a ditch three times. The video, which was shown in court, can be viewed on www.westernmorningnews.co.uk.

Yesterday, his defence counsel, Ayse Vahib, told the court that the farmer, of Farringdon, near Exeter, was "very ashamed" to be before the court and was "remorseful" of the attack.

Marles pleaded guilty at an early stage and admitted he acted "recklessly" in allowing his horse to go too close. He claimed he had not meant to hurt Ms Weeks. But magistrates at an earlier hearing decided the assault was intentional.

Despite the ruling, Ms Vahib yesterday insisted that Marles had only meant to stop Ms Weeks from filming. She told the court Marles had drunk three "generous measures" of whisky before the attack.

The assault bore striking similarities to an incident in 2005, when Marles punched and kicked 59-year-old Kevin Hill as he monitored hunt activities. As a result, the defendant was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for two years.

Recorder Ros Collins yesterday activated the sentence, but reduced it from nine to three months, giving Marles credit for his early plea and noting the suspension period was three-quarters through when he attacked Ms Weeks. Marles was given a further three months for assaulting Ms Weeks, to run consecutively.

Marles was told: "You acted like an arrogant, cowardly, drunken lout and I hope you're thoroughly ashamed of yourself."

After the hearing, Ms Weeks, who founded the group Protect our Wild Animals, said she was "very disappointed" at the verdict. "It was far too lenient, given that he's a violent man and the offence against him was a second offence," she said. "I think he's a bully and a thug and he should have got longer. This will send out a message to other thugs connected with fox hunting that they assault, attack and intimidate hunt monitors, and if they don't get off, they will get off very lightly."

Carol Hill, wife of Kevin Hill, the victim of the first attack, said her husband was still suffering as a result of the beating.

She added: "The sentence isn't long enough. He should have got the full nine months. Now he could be out in three months."