The lawyer sparked a backlash on Twitter after claiming he killed a fox with a baseball bat on Thursday morning while nursing a hangover and wearing his wife’s “too small green kimono”. He tweeted: “Already this morning I have killed a fox with a baseball bat. How’s your Boxing Day going?”

Mr Maugham said the fox had “got caught up in the protective netting around the chickens” at his London home and he “wasn’t sure what else to do”.

He later apologised to anyone “upset” by his tweet following widespread condemnation.

An online petition set up on Thursday calling for Mr Maugham to be prosecuted over the incident has been signed by more than 7,500 people. 

The petition says: “Today Jolyon Maugham QC tweeted about his unnecessary and cruel bludgeoning of a trapped and scared fox.

“The public interest would be served by a proper investigation and clarification of the law and if appropriate prosecution for this cruel act.”

Mr Maugham’s tweet has so far had over 10,000 replies.

One Twitter user said: “Disgusting from Jolyon Maugham. He could of attempted to free the fox instead of bludgeoning the innocent animal to death.”

Another wrote: “Looking forward to your prosecution by @RSPCA_official for this brutal, disgusting and UNNECESSARY act of cruelty. What a horrific thing to do AND then post about.”

A third commented: “I follow you because I have been interested in your Brexit commentary but will unfollow now as I am appalled by bragging about cruelty to animals.”

Another person added: “I find this utterly bizarre… I think you have acted appallingly and your self-confessed cruelty should be acted upon by the @RSPCA_official.”

One more said: “Hugely disappointed. Firstly that you did this and secondly that you’re bragging.”

The RSPCA described the incident as “distressing”.

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In a further tweet, the animal welfare charity said: “We’re aware of a situation regarding a fox, and would like to reassure people that we’re investigating.

“Due to a very high volume of tweets, unfortunately we can’t respond to every single one, and are unable to provide further comment right now. Thank you for your understanding.”

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.

Mr Maugham, founder of the Good Law Project, became a prominent public figure after being involved in multiple court cases against Brexit.

He worked alongside Gina Miller after the EU referendum to force the Government to seek MPs’ permission to trigger Article 50, the legal process to officially start the UK’s exit from the bloc.

He was also behind the legal challenge to Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament in the Scottish courts earlier this year.

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