A Conservative MP must appear in court after he was charged with letting his Jack Russell puppy chase deer in Richmond Park.
Danny Kruger – the MP for Devizes in Wiltshire and son of Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith – is accused of allowing pooch Pebble to “chase, worry or injure” a large herd of Fallow deer on 20 March.
He was set to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Monday – but the case has now been adjourned until 24 May. If found guilty, Kruger could face a £200 fine.
Richmond Park has strict rules for dog owners walking with their pets, and is home to more than 600 deer. Owners are asked to keep their dogs on leads during rutting and birthing seasons, as the deer can become aggressive.
FENTON! pic.twitter.com/LML9R783RW
– Victoria ? (@vickyallover) May 11, 2021
Kruger, who was elected as the MP for Devizes in 2019, was previously David Cameron’s chief speechwriter – and became political secretary to Boris Johnson in August 2019.
The Eton-educated MP was awarded an MBE for his work with charity OnlyConnect, a youth crime prevention group he founded.
Last year Kruger was forced to apologise after being spotted without a face mask on an hourlong journey to London on public transport.
He claimed he “forgot” to don a face covering, after a picture emerged on social media of him travelling on a train without one.
Danny kruger, the tory MP for Devises not wearing a mask for the entire Hungerford to Paddington train journey yesterday. Don’t blame it on the young people Boris when your own party aren’t even following your rules ??♀️??♀️ #Lockdown2 #SecondWave pic.twitter.com/4NV8Cv5CuK
— Edie (@Ediebound) September 19, 2020
An eagle-eyed Twitter user posted a picture last September of Kruger sitting at a train table wearing earphones, with the caption: “Don’t blame it on the young people Boris (Johnson) when your own party aren’t even following your rules.”
In a statement at the time, Kruger said: “I boarded an almost empty carriage at Hungerford and quite simply forgot to put on my mask.
“When I got to Paddington I realised my mistake and covered up for the rest of my journey.
“If the person had reminded me rather than taking a photo and posting it on social media I would of course have put on my mask then and there. I do apologise for my mistake.”
Great Western Railway, the train operator that runs the route between Hungerford and Paddington, warns passengers on its website that they face a £100 fine for failing to wear a face covering on its services.
Related: Starmer’s approval rating plummets to -48
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can’t do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .