A HUNT whipper-in faces jail after he repeatedly used his horse as a "weapon" to barge a hunt monitor off her feet while he was serving a suspended sentence.

Christopher Marles carried out the attack on Helen Weeks, 61, when she was filming the activities of the East Devon Hunt last March. He knocked her to the ground three times with his steed, despite her desperate cries to leave her alone. The incident was caught on her video camera.

Footage from the attack on 61-year-old Helen Weeks

At an earlier hearing, Marles, 47, had pleaded guilty to the assault charge, on the basis that he had acted recklessly in riding his horse too close to the victim. But yesterday, magistrates in Exeter rejected his claim that he had not intended to carry out the attack.

And it emerged that Marles, of Farringdon, near Exeter, is the subject of a nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, for an assault on another hunt monitor, Kevin Hill, which left the animal welfare officer with two black eyes and in need of six stitches.

It happened in October 2005, while Mr Hill was filming the activities of the Devon and Somerset Stag Hounds. Exeter Crown Court ordered Marles to pay his victim £2,500 in compensation.

Yesterday, magistrates decided to refer the case to Judge Jeremy Griggs at Exeter Crown Court, who will decide whether the breach of the sentence warrants a jail term.

The magistrates' bench has recommended that custody should be the "entry point" of any sentence.

During the hearing, Marles publicly apologised to his victim but the magistrates ruled that the apology was no indication that the attack was not intentional.

The defendant said he would never hunt again following the incident. But a spokesman for the East Devon Hunt yesterday revealed he had his red coat revoked as a result of the attack.

Ms Weeks was out monitoring the hunt with Graham Forsyth, of the League Against Cruel Sports, who also captured some footage of the attack.

Yesterday, she said she would not be deterred from monitoring hunts, and from campaigning to have anti-hunting legislation strengthened to include a recklessness clause. She said: "Not only would that protect the hunted animal, it would also protect the hunt monitors from attack."

Countryside Alliance spokesman Tim Bonner said there was "no justification whatsoever" for Marles's conduct.

He said: "It's got no place in hunting, and neither has Christopher Marles."

But he said the case showed that the laws in place were working properly to protect monitors. "The behaviour is unacceptable and the courts have found him guilty," he said. There's nothing here to suggest the law needs to be strengthened."