Alexandra Dennis found guilty after attacking pensioner

A WOMAN who attacked a pensioner before shouting abuse at him as he lay on the floor has been ordered to pay a court bill totalling nearly £1,000.

Alexandra Dennis, 39 and from Sturminster Newton, appeared at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court on Monday, December 19 for a summary trial on one count of assault by beating.

She initially denied the charge despite the attack being captured on camera.

Video footage of the ‘shocking assault’ shows Dennis ‘lunging’ at her victim - 81 year old Richard de Pelet - before hitting him over the head with a camera lens. Mr de Pelet was left ‘disorientated and visibly shaken’.

After being struck, the pensioner then falls to the ground with Dennis shouting abuse at him. Mr de Pelet is helped to his feet and can be heard saying “you hit me”.

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The court heard Dennis carried out the assault on December 18, 2021, at Boys Hill Drive in Holnest, near Sherborne.

Dennis, a ‘hunt saboteur’, was in the area after the Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt had been out trail hunting.

The Magistrates’, chaired by Mr Dominic Brittain, found Dennis guilty and instructed her to pay £100 of compensation to Mr de Pelet, she was fined £225, ordered to pay a £34 surcharge to fund victim services and £600 of costs.

A spokesperson for the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale Hunt, speaking on behalf of Richard de Pelet, said they were “relieved that justice had been done” following the guilty verdict.

They said: “This shocking incident highlights the horrific abuse members of our community suffer at the hands of hunt saboteurs. While he has recovered physically, the elderly victim understandably remains emotionally scarred by the violent actions of Alexandra Dennis.

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 “For many rural people, particularly the more elderly, following hounds while trail hunting remains an important social activity and can be one of limited avenues of interaction in more isolated areas of the countryside.

 “Sadly, there are a small number of people who don’t understand this and go out of their way to intimidate and attack innocent people. We would like to thank the police and the CPS for their professionalism in helping to bring Dennis to justice”.