Two hare coursers handed five-year criminal behaviour orders

Two men have been handed five-year criminal behaviour orders and ordered to pay fines and costs after hare coursing offences in Lincolnshire.

Robert Makepeace, 42, and Nathan Smith, 57, were arrested following reports of hare coursing on farmland in Leverton on 12 December 2022.

The hare coursers were caught after being seen on Ings Lane, with eyewitnesses seeing the pair in several locations before police officers stopped them.

Both men were charged with being equipped to search or pursue hares and three counts of trespass with intent to pursue or search for hares with dogs.

They appeared at Boston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 19 July and were handed a five year Community Behaviour Order, which means neither can enter the county.

They were issued a fine of £833, a victim surcharge of £330 and £85 court costs.

Both men were also ordered to pay the police kennel costs and had their vehicle, phones, leads and all three dogs forfeited.

Hare poaching can lead to criminal damage, theft, vandalism, and violence. The season usually begins after harvest, as poachers take advantage of bare fields.

A single incident can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to land and crops, and see farmers and landowners violently abused.

It comes just weeks after four men were handed tougher sentences under new legislation for hare coursing.

The legislation has led to a 400 percent increase in arrests of suspected hare coursers in Lincolnshire alone.

Rural Crime Action Team Sergeant Deb Nunn said it was "another good result" for Lincolnshire Police, acting as "a stern warning that hare coursing will not be tolerated in the county".

“We would like to thank the community for their continued support in reporting these offences which led to these sentences," she said.

“Offenders are often linked to organised crime groups and are known to commit a wide range of criminal offences against the community as a whole, as well as placing officers and the public at risk when failing to stop for police.

“We will investigate any criminal activity reported to us and we thank the public for their support in reporting crimes.”

The new legislation, which came into force in August 2022, makes it an offence to go equipped for, search for, or pursue hares with dogs, and an offence to trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs.