The former professional footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones is embroiled in a social media row over a photograph that appeared on his Twitter feed of 100 dead foxes with the caption: “A real night lamping #foxes, anyone beat this?”



Animal campaigners, incensed by the suggestion Jones had shot the animals, immediately condemned the tweet, saying the photograph depicted “nothing less than a massacre”.



But the former Wimbledon and Chelsea midfielder, a keen hunter who has sparked controversy in the past after posting photos of his “kills” on his Twitter account, claimed he had been hacked and the photo was nothing to do with him. It was later deleted.



The Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels actor tweeted that he had woken up to see the picture. “this is a hack ive never seen this pic in my life and did NOT twwet [sic] it is a HACK!!!!!”



He said that he did not condone the picture and that his research had shown it was taken and loaded on to the internet in Australia. He then retweeted: “That Fox photo is from 2012 in Australia when Victorian Govt introduced bounties for Foxes and Wild Dogs! Not Vinnie related.” The picture, according to another retweet by Jones, was taken from a Facebook page of “Aussie Feral Game Hunters!”



Vinnie Jones. Photograph: Rex/Tim Carrafa/Newspix

Jones, 52, who lives in Los Angeles and Sussex, has previously spoken of his love of hunting and has shared photos of himself next to his kills, including one of 16 dead rabbits. This month, he told Shooting Times & Country Magazine: “I love pigeon shooting – building the hide, putting the decoys out.”



He also referred to the practice of “lamping” – hunting at night using a high-voltage spotlight that reflects the eyes of animals, making them easier to spot.

“Lamping is probably my favourite. I’ve spent a lot of money on customising my Land Rover for lamping. If the farmer has a fox problem, I love going out and dealing with it for him.”



While the provenance of the tweet was being contested, that of the original photograph seemed unlikely to be a result of Jones lamping. The British Association for Shooting and Conservation said it did not believe it to be the result of one night of fox control in the UK. “It would take a vast amount of land to sustain such a population of foxes,” it said.



Jones told Mail Online the hack was an attack on him because of his love of country pursuits. “It is absolutely nothing to do with me. I’ve never seen the picture until this morning when I’d seen people going mad on Twitter saying I had done this and that. I was shaking. I’d never seen the picture, and I’d never seen that many foxes. This is an attack on me. I don’t know how it has got on there,” he said.

