Four men drove hundreds of miles to hunt hares

Maurice Smith, 36, of New Fairplace Hill, West Sussex, and Billy Saunders, 36, of Holwell Lane, Hatfield in Hertfordshire

Four men who travelled hundreds of miles to hunt hares with their dogs on farmland in Lincolnshire have been given criminal behaviour orders.

Police received reports of a group in a silver Mercedes ML hare coursing at Wellend Bank, near Market Deeping, at 07:30 GMT on 9 October.

Billy Saunders, 36, Noah Stanley, 54, Noah Stanley, 26, and Maurice Smith, 36, pleaded guilty to trespassing with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs and of being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs.

All four men were sentenced at Lincoln Magistrates' Court on 30 June, with the hearing continuing on Thursday.

Police found six people inside the five-seater car, two of whom were children aged 13 and 16, and two greyhounds in the boot.

A catapult, a ball bearing in a camouflaged jacket and a locking knife were also found and attempts had been made to cover the number plate in mud, police said.

The force added "damning" videos were discovered on Saunders' phone showing the younger Stanley in a muddy field letting one of the hounds chase a hare.

Noah Stanley, 26, and Noah Stanley, 54, both of Shire Lane, Buckinghamshire

The court seized the Mercedes, the two dogs and the equipment found in the car, along with a mobile phone.

All four defendants were each ordered to pay £3,375 compensation for kennel fees, £85 to the Criminal Prosecution Service, and a victim surcharge of £114.

Smith, of New Fairplace Hill, West Sussex, was disqualified from keeping dogs for 10 years and must carry out 120 hours of unpaid work. He was given a 10-year criminal behaviour order (CBO).

Saunders, of Holwell Lane, Hatfield in Hertfordshire, and Stanley (54) and Stanley (26), both of Shire Lane, Buckinghamshire, were disqualified from keeping dogs for five years and must each do 60 hours of unpaid work. They were all given a five-year CBO.

The CBOs mean the men are banned from entering Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire with dogs or poaching equipment between 31 July and 30 April.

PC Chris Windsor-Beck, from the Lincolnshire Police rural crime action team, said: "Hare coursers are drawn to Lincolnshire because of its flat, open terrain... but our team is fighting back with every report.

"They are not welcome here, or anywhere else in the county."

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