Three fined £50,000 over hare coursing offences

The men were forced to pay £47,700 in kennel costs for their four seized dogs

Three men have been ordered to pay a total of more than £50,000 in fines and compensation after admitting hare coursing offences.

Samuel Sheady senior, 44, Samuel Sheady junior, 23, and Jason Davies, 35, were arrested on 29 November 2022, after they were seen killing a hare with a dog near Spalding, Lincolnshire Police said.

After they were spotted by a police patrol, they drove off before crashing into the fence of a house in the village of Great Hale.

The men fled across a field on foot but were caught by officers, including a dog unit.

Four dogs were found in the boot of the abandoned car, including one that was wearing a tracker around his neck.

The dogs were taken to a kennel to be looked after and have been forfeited and will be given new homes.

The men had their car confiscated

All three men initially pleaded not guilty, but changed their plea at Lincoln Magistrates' Court and were sentenced last week.

The court ordered the trio to pay £15,900 each in compensation for kennelling the seized dogs.

They were also fined £700 each and had their vehicle, cash and other equipment confiscated.

Sheady senior was told to forfeit £200 in cash and Sheady junior £180.

Additionally, the men were banned from being on private land in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire without permission between July and April.

'Barbaric activity'

PC Chris Windsor-Beck, from the force's Rural Crime Action Team, said: “This sends out a clear message to anyone thinking of coming to Lincolnshire to carry out such a cruel activity such as hare coursing.

"We will simply will not accept this barbaric activity and anyone who comes to the county hare coursing can expect to face the full force of the law."

The Sheadys, both from Bro Gwilym, Wrexham, and Davies of Lower Ecton Road, Northampton, are appealing against the sentence.

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