A leading Remain lawyer is facing an RSPCA probe after he tweeted that he had killed a fox with a baseball bat.
Jolyon Maugham QC, one of those behind the legal petition to gain a court order to make Boris Johnson seek a Brexit extension, claimed he slaughtered the animal in a tweet on Boxing Day.
He wrote on Thursday morning: "Already this morning I have killed a fox with a baseball bat. How's your Boxing Day going?"
Mr Maugham claimed the fox had "got caught up in the protective netting around the chickens" and he "wasn't sure what else to do".
But he later apologised for his comments after receiving a severe backlash from Twitter users.
He said: "Sorry to those upset by my tweet. My chickens were very distressed by the fox - both before and after I'd dispatched it - and I wanted it out of the way quickly."
An RSPCA spokeswoman said: "We've been made aware of this and are looking into it."
The RSPCA said on Twitter that the incident was "distressing", after Twitter users tagged the animal welfare organisation in Mr Maugham's post.
Government guidelines state that if a fox is caught in a trap or snare on a person's property, they must "humanely kill any fox you catch while it's in the trap or snare".
Gassing or poisoning foxes is prohibited.
