Two men have been banned from being in the East Midlands with a dog, or with anyone else who has a dog after being sentenced for hare coursing offences.
William Johnson, 45, from Burbage, near Hinckley, and Scott Pritchard, 43, from Telford, appeared at Boston Magistrates Court on October 11.
The pair pleaded guilty to being equipped for or with the intention to search for or pursue hares, following and incident in Lincolnshire on December 17 last year.
They were handed Criminal Behaviour Orders for 15 years, banned from keeping dogs and their van and equipment forfeited.
It also prohibits them from entering Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire between July 31 and April 30 with or in company of anyone with dogs of any breed
Both men will have to pay fines and costs of over £14,000.
Their two dogs, Gyp and Jess, will be heading to new homes after the courts ordered their forfeiture.
Their two dogs Gyp and Jess, pictured above and below
An investigation by the force’s Rural Crime Action Team was started after reports of suspected hare coursing were received in the Force Control Room.
Just before 9am on Sunday, December 17, a man was seen with two animals that were running over land; the animals had disappeared into long grass. It was believed one of the animals was a dog due to its height. The caller believed the man was hare coursing. A Vauxhall van was believed to be involved, with a highway maintenance sticker on the back.
Thirty minutes later, the distinctive Vauxhall van was seen and stopped by officers on Winsover Road in Spalding. Johnson and Pritchard were in the vehicle along with two long dogs in the boot. There was an orange warning beacon in the van.
The men could not give a reasonable explanation for being in Lincolnshire, or why they had been seen only five minutes down the road in West Pinchbeck. Along with the dogs they had mobile phones, a thermal imaging scope and slip leads. They were arrested for being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs.
The investigation revealed damming images on one of the seized phones. Three images recovered from Pritchard’s phone showed a black and white dog on a lead with a dead hare next to it, the dog off the lead with fur in the dog’s mouth and the same dog with another dead hare.
When asked in interview Pritchard said the images were taken when he was on land near Telford where he and another family member had permission to do pest control.
Both men denied being involved in hare coursing. They changed their plea from not guilty to guilty on the day of their trial.
Inspector Chris Davis, Rural Crime Action Team, said: “The arrest and sentencing of Johnson and Pritchard will ensure rural communities and the environment are protected from them.
“Should they choose to reoffend or breach their Criminal Behaviour Order or keep dogs within the next 15 years, they can be placed back before of the courts.
