Hare coursing gangs face a fresh crackdown of unlimited fines and up to six months in jail amid fears crime lords use the pastime for 'networking'
The Government is set to crack down on organised hare coursing gangs with unlimited fines and jail sentences for offenders caught in fields.
The new proposals will give the police and courts more powers to hit the criminal groups blighting the British countryside.
Police have warned that organised gangs, often with links to drug smuggling networks, are roving across the country to take part in hare coursing.
Last year there were reportedly 10,000 cases of the crime though the figure is thought to be an underestimate of the problem.
Now, the Government is proposing to introduce a maximum sentence of unlimited fines for offenders and up to six months in jail in amendments to the Game Act 1831.
The Government is planning a fresh crackdown on hare coursing amid fears that crime lords use the barbaric pastime for 'networking'. Offenders would face unlimited fines and up to six months in jail under new proposals. (File image)
The plans also include the introduction of a new offence of ‘going equipped’ for hare coursing and powers for police to reclaim the costs of kennelling seized dogs from criminals.
Landowners and farmers have hailed the plans as a breakthrough after a prolonged campaign to crack down on the crime.
Mark Bridgeman, president of the Country Land & Business Association which represents 28,000 landowners, farmers and rural businesses, said: ‘News that the government intends to crack down on hare coursing by introducing harsher penalties to catch these criminals, who inflict misery on rural communities, means there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel.’
National Farmers’ Union deputy president Stuart Roberts added: ‘For many years we have led the charge raising these issues at the highest level of government, sharing with Ministers and MPs just how farming families suffer emotionally, mentally and financially from increasing levels of rural crime such as hare coursing.’
Police forces across the country with large rural areas, including chiefly Humberside, North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, have joined to combat hare coursing.
Officers have told The Mail on Sunday how intelligence from monitoring groups has led to convictions of major international drug smuggling networks.
Gangs organise hare coursing for gambling with syndicates betting thousands on events which are streamed via encrypted messaging apps or online.
The MoS discovered a host of video clips and pictures of hare coursing being shared on social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
Gloating dog owners post the material of hares being savaged or of groups of the wild animals lying dead in fields or yards.
A dog owner posted one picture last November, when the hare coursing season takes place as fields have been harvested, showed a group of hares killed with a dog posing by their side.
The message alongside the image read: ‘21 rabbits caught today ladies n gents.’
One private group on Facebook for hare coursing enthusiasts, and run by UK-based groups, boasts more than 4,700 members and asks new joiners to pass
Chief Inspector Phil Vickers, one of the country’s leading anti-hare coursing officers at Lincolnshire Police, said: ‘The offenders travel widely, hundreds of miles to be involved in hare coursing.
‘And it’s a blood sport of choice for some high-end criminals. We have been able to supply absolutely key information, their mobile phone numbers and who they are associating with, which has led to the conviction of drug traffickers.’
‘There is a network of offenders around the country who are involved in high-level criminality and hare coursing. We see them moving together but it’s also a networking opportunity to meet like-minded people.’
In North Yorkshire incidents of hare coursing and poaching leapt from 599 in 2019 to 904 in 2020.
Lincolnshire recorded around 400 incidents every month between October and December last year, double the quantity for a similar interval in 2019 – partially as a result of a successful crackdown by Norfolk Police drove gangs over the county border.
Hare Coursing was banned under the Hunting Act 2004 but criminals are typically prosecuted under the Game Act due to the lower threshold of proof required.
Currently under the Game Act, the highest fine magistrates can impose on offenders is £1,000 yet criminals routinely walk free with fines of less than £400.
A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesman said: ‘We are clear that those found guilty of hare coursing activities should be subject to the full force of the law, with unlimited fines already in place for anyone breaching the Hunting Act.’
Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.