Four men convicted over hare coursing

The hare coursers were apprehended by the Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime Team in October 2024

Four men have been convicted of hare coursing in Lincolnshire and banned from returning to the county for 15 years.

Their car was stopped near Holbeach St Marks in October 2024 after police were called about men and dogs chasing prey in a field.

Lincolnshire Police said the vehicle contained four dogs and its number plate had been smeared with mud to make it unreadable.

The men were found guilty of being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs at a hearing at Lincoln Magistrates' Court last week.

Elijah King, 20, and Joseph King, 41, both of Teston Road, Offham, West Malling, Kent and Elijah Moore, aged 44, of Stonehurst Lane, Hadlow Down, East Sussex, were each fined £750.

Charles Lee, 42, of Polhill Park, Polhill, Halstead, Sevenoaks, Kent was fined £1,250.

They were also each ordered to pay £7,140 for the cost of kenneling the dogs that were confiscated by police.

The men were banned from entering Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire with dogs or poaching equipment between 31 July and 30 April for 15 years.

PC Karen Irving of the force's Rural Crime Team said: "The dogs were seized and because the four men refused to sign the dogs over, they have incurred £28,560 in kennelling and welfare fees.

"The court ordered they won't be getting their dogs back.

"We will do everything we can to stop this vile offending."

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