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Ben Spencer
Daily Mail
August 8, 2013
When eccentric aristocrat Sir Benjamin Slade picked up one of his many guns last month and strode out onto his estate, he claimed he was trying to protect the public from a mysterious big cat stalking his lands.
But it seems not everyone wanted his protection.
A member of the public complained to the police that they felt threatened after pictures of gun-toting Sir Benjamin, 67, were published in the Daily Mail and other newspapers.
The call resulted in a visit from armed police demanding to inspect his collection of 150 firearms.
The baronet had to intercept the officers at the gates of Maunsel House, near Bridgwater, Somerset, as he had hired the venue out for a wedding and feared the guests would be upset.
Sir Benjamin, who made his fortune as a shipping magnate, said that it was the fourth time his guns had been investigated and that he had contacted his MP to complain about the police response.
He previously made headlines last year when police staged a dramatic raid on his home, which saw him charged with possessing a firearm without a certificate and breaching a shotgun certificate by leaving a weapon unsecured.
On that occasion he said he had used the shotgun to shoot at foxes from his bedroom window.
Sir Benjamin posed for the latest pictures after numerous sightings of what he claimed was a large
puma stalking his grounds.
A staff member even managed to take a photo of the mysterious black animal on his mobile phone.
Sir Benjamin, who named the cat the Beast of North Newton after the village nearest his estate, told the Mail last month: ‘I think it is bigger than most cats, probably bigger than a puma.
‘When I saw the photo, it was visibly huge. The grass in the picture is two-and-a-half foot high.
‘We need to get this thing shot because it may kill a young child or dog.
‘Plus, I need the head to put in my collection.’
A few days after the story was published Avon and Somerset Police telephoned Sir Benjamin to say
they had received a complaint.
They arranged to inspect his weapons on Wednesday last week.
He told them he had a wedding booked that day but they would not reschedule – and he had no choice but to warn the couple that their happy day could be interrupted by a raid.
The officers checked the gun from the photograph and were satisfied that it was deactivated, but Sir
Benjamin had to persuade them not to do a full inspection of his 150 weapons, which include 400-
year-old muskets, a tommy gun, blunderbusses, a 12-bore Churchill shotgun and an AK47 assault rifle.
