Otis Ferry
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Charles Frederick Otis Ferry (born 1 November 1982) is a British model and prominent pro- fox hunting enthusiast. He has served as joint master of the South Shropshire
hunt Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, e ...
. Ferry has been arrested and charged several times for activities related to hunting, two of which led to
conviction In law, a conviction is the verdict reached by a court of law finding a defendant guilty of a crime. The opposite of a conviction is an acquittal (that is, "not guilty"). In Scotland, there can also be a verdict of " not proven", which is cons ...
s.


Early life

The son of
Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ''The Independent'', Ferry an ...
and Lucy Ferry (who later married Robin Birley), Ferry was educated at Marlborough College. Ferry was introduced to fox-hunting at the age of fifteen by Rory Knight Bruce, a field sports journalist, and soon developed a passion for it.


Career

In 2004, ''
Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...
'' magazine put Ferry at number 2 in its list of the 200 "most desirable" men. In 2007, he was modelling for
Burberry Burberry is a British luxury fashion house established in 1856 by Thomas Burberry headquartered in London, England. It currently designs and distributes ready to wear, including trench coats (for which it is most famous), leather accessorie ...
. On 15 September 2004, Ferry and seven other pro-hunting protesters entered chamber of the House of Commons in protest at anti-hunting legislation. After a short adjournment, the House then went on to approve the Hunting Bill by a majority of 356 to 166. All eight men were charged with offences under the Public Order Act 1986 and denied the charges, but they were later convicted, and each was fined £350 and given an 18-month
conditional discharge A discharge is a type of sentence imposed by a court whereby no punishment is imposed. An absolute discharge is an unconditional discharge whereby the court finds that a crime has technically been committed but that any punishment of the defend ...
. In accepting a
lifetime achievement award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...
at the
Q Awards The Q Awards were the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine '' Q''. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards became one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards. Locations for the awards ceremony included Abbey Road Studios ...
of 2004, Bryan Ferry said he was dedicating it to his brave son. On 20 June 2005, Ferry appeared as a member of the BBC Television ''
Question Time A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...
'' panel, together with
Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...
,
Justine Greening Justine Greening (born 30 April 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2011, Secretary of State for Transport ...
,
Lembit Opik Lembit is an Estonian masculine given name. A variant is Lembitu. It sometimes also may be a surname. Lembit may refer to: *Lembitu (died 1217), Estonian elder and military leader from Sakala County *Lembit Arro (born 1930), Estonian politician ...
, and
June Sarpong June Konadu Sarpong (born 31 May 1977) is a British television presenter and executive. She was a panellist on ITV's ''Loose Women'' and is currently a panellist on the Sky News programme '' The Pledge''. In November 2019, Sarpong was appointed ...
. By then he was widely seen as the public face of the pro-hunting campaign. In 2007, Ferry became huntsman and joint master of the South Shropshire Hunt. At the age of 25, he was believed to be the youngest
master of foxhounds Fox hunting is an activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds. A group of unarmed followers, led by a "master of foxhounds" (or "master of ho ...
in three hundred years. On 21 November 2007, after an incident with hunt protestors during a meet of the Heythrop Hunt at
Lower Swell Lower Swell is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Swell, in the Cotswold district, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is located at the River Dikler, one mile from Stow-on-the-Wold. The village has "finest country ...
, Ferry was arrested on suspicion of common assault and robbery. It was alleged that he had taken a video camera from two hunt saboteurs who said they were investigating possible breaches of the
Hunting Act 2004 The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the ...
. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of
perverting the course of justice Perverting the course of justice is an offence committed when a person prevents justice from being served on themselves or on another party. In England and Wales it is a common law offence, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Statu ...
in connection with the common assault charge. Although he was initially granted bail, he was subsequently remanded in custody until shortly before the trial in 2009 when he was released on
bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...
. At that point he had spent four months in prison. The
Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...
subsequently decided not to proceed with the charges of perverting the course of justice, and Ferry was formally acquitted of them in April 2009. In May 2009 he was convicted on a lesser charge of "causing fear and stress".Emma Tilley
"Otis Ferry walked free from court after he admitted causing fear to hunt monitor"
''Wilts & Gloucestershire Standard'', 22 May 2007
Speaking about his time in prison, Ferry claimed he had been imprisoned for his beliefs. He later added "It was a doddle compared to public school". In the run-up to the British general election of 2015, Ferry headed Vote-OK, a campaign group which offered to supply canvassers for
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
candidates who would support a repeal of the Hunting Act 2004.


Personal life

In 2020, Ferry was reported to be the long-term boyfriend of Lady Alice Manners, a daughter of the
Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in who ...
, and to be living with her at
Belvoir Castle Belvoir Castle ( ) is a faux historic castle and stately home in Leicestershire, England, situated west of the town of Grantham and northeast of Melton Mowbray. The Castle was first built immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066 an ...
.Hilary Rose
"A 356-room castle, three socialites, no staff…"
''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 14 May 2020, accessed 6 December 2021


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferry, Otis Fox hunting 1982 births Living people British activists British hunters Otis People educated at Marlborough College