Two men who travelled to Lincolnshire to pursue illegal hare coursing have been clobbered with a swingeing costs order.
Darren Lee, 26, of Top Lane, Barnacle, Warwickshire, and Ronnie Doherty, 21, of Gipsy Lane, Irchester, Northampton, each admitted two offences of trespass with the intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs when they appeared at Boston Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, 8th March 2023.
This is an offence under section 51 of the Police, Crime and Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. It has a maximum penalty on summary conviction of 51 weeks' custody (under current rules) and/or an unlimited fine.
Magistrates heard that the pair were arrested when an eagle eyed member of the public noticed them bundling hounds into the back of a Jaguar vehicle near the village of Gedney Dyke. The witness took a note of the vehicle registration number and reported their concerns to the police.
Paul Wood, prosecuting, said that a phone had been seized from Doherty, analysis of which revealed images and voice messages about hare coursing. It also contained images of leaflets about Lincolnshire Police's Operation Galileo, which seeks to clamp down on rural crime in general and hare coursing in particular.
The phone also contained 13 video clips of hare coursing, at least one of which was filmed on the date of the offence, Thursday, 25th August 2022.
Local farmers subsequently identified scenes shown in the videos and confirmed that neither man had permission to be on the land.
In the narration of one video, Doherty was heard to say "this is how me and young Darren (Lee) goes coursing, boys."
Four dogs were seized by the police.
Jason Patel, mitigating, said: "They are shouted at, they get into a vehicle and drive away.
"There's no dangerous driving or officers chasing them, or the like that can be associated with this offence.
"They have accepted what they have been caught for."
The court heard that neither man had previous convictions.
Having considered the circumstances, Magistrates adopted a robust stance to sentencing.
Each man was fined £416 and ordered to pay £166 surcharge and £85 towards prosecution costs.
Magistrates also ordered them to pay an equal share of the £11,444 cost of kennelling and veterinary treatment in relation to the seized dogs (so £5722 each).
An order was made depriving the men of ownership of the four seized dogs and an infrared spotting scope. Another was made banning them from owning or keeping dogs for a period of 5 years.
The orders in relation to the dogs were suspended until 31st March 2023, to allow some time for them to be rehomed.
I doff my cap to the colleagues involved in this case. Having seen this, I doubt anyone else will be minded to go hare coursing in Lincolnshire!
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