Group of men caught hare coursing banned from farm land across four counties

hare coursers Cambs police
Four men have been given criminal behaviour orders for 'daytime trespass in pursuit of game'. Credit: Cambridgeshire police.

A group of men caught hare coursing in Cambridgeshire have been handed orders banning them from any similar activity in four counties.Thomas Connors, 43, Patrick Rooney, 36, Anthony Connors, 34, and James Bell, 20, were spotted by police on land in Abbotts Ripton in November last year.

Officers from the force’s Rural Crime Action Team caught them driving through a field looking for hares.

The men all pleaded guilty to daytime trespass in pursuit of game (poaching) and were each handed a Criminal Behaviour Order lasting three years.

The order covers Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex and prevents them from doing the following:

  • Being on private agricultural or farm land, or any yards or working areas associated with that land, in or on any vehicle, or on foot whilst in possession of one or more sight hound or x-sight hound breed, unless the land owner’s written permission has been obtained beforehand.

All four were also ordered to pay £178 in compensation to the owner of the fields and wildlife conservation areas.

The court result comes after Cambridgeshire Constabulary teamed up with six other police forces in the eastern region to tackle hare coursing.

The borders between the forces, which include Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent, have now been removed when using certain tactics, making it more easy to apprehend and prosecute offenders.