Otis Ferry

The son of Bryan Ferry and Lucy Ferry (who later married Robin Birley), Ferry was educated at Marlborough College.[2]

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.[3]

In 2004, Tatler magazine put Ferry at number 2 in its list of the 200 "most desirable" men.[4] In 2007, he was modelling for Burberry.[5]

On 15 September 2004, Ferry and seven other pro-hunting protesters entered chamber of the House of Commons in protest at anti-hunting legislation.[6] After a short adjournment, the House then went on to approve the Hunting Bill by a majority of 356 to 166.[7] All eight men were charged with offences under the Public Order Act 1986 and denied the charges,[8] but they were later convicted, and each was fined £350 and given an 18-month conditional discharge.[9][10]

In accepting a lifetime achievement award at the Q Awards of 2004, Bryan Ferry said he was dedicating it to his brave son.[11]

On 20 June 2005, Ferry appeared as a member of the BBC Television Question Time panel, together with Tony Benn, Justine Greening, Lembit Opik, and June Sarpong.[12] By then he was widely seen as the public face of the pro-hunting campaign.[13]

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 in three hundred years.[14]

On 21 November 2007, after an incident with hunt protestors during a meet of the Heythrop Hunt at Lower Swell, 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.[15][16] He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in connection with the common assault charge. Although he was initially granted bail, he was subsequently remanded in custody[17][18] until shortly before the trial in 2009 when he was released on bail.[19] At that point he had spent four months in prison.[20] The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently decided not to proceed with the charges of perverting the course of justice,[21] and Ferry was formally acquitted of them in April 2009.[22] In May 2009 he was convicted on a lesser charge of "causing fear and stress".[20]

Speaking about his time in prison, Ferry claimed he had been imprisoned for his beliefs.[23] He later added "It was a doddle compared to public school".[24]

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 candidates who would support a repeal of the Hunting Act 2004.[25]