Lincolnshire: Hare coursing suspects in 4x4 blamed for crop damage

Lincolnshire Police issued a 48-hour dispersal order at the weekend (file picture)

Police are investigating after suspected hare coursers caused £1,000 of damage to crops when a 4x4 was driven across a field.

Lincolnshire Police said the incident was reported on 5 November, shortly before a dispersal order was put in place in the south of the county.

Under the order, suspected hare coursers could be told to leave the area and faced arrest if they returned.

Six other reports were received over the weekend, police said.

Supt Lee Pache, from Lincolnshire Police, said: "We had a number of incidents reported in the Boston and South Holland area on Saturday.

"As a consequence of that, over £1,000 of damage to a winter barley crop was caused."

Appealing for information, Supt Pache said: "Offenders are often linked to organised crime groups and are known to commit a wide range of criminal offences against the community as a whole, as well as placing officers and the public at risk when failing to stop for police.

"Whether you are a farmer or a member of the public, in a village or a town, you are potentially at risk from these individuals when they come into the county."

Lincolnshire Police started seizing dogs in 2018, and said it saw a 30% reduction in offences (file picture)

Lincolnshire is one of the areas most frequently targeted by coursers due to its flat, rural areas.

According to police, coursers are often engaged in illegal betting involving large sums of money and the dogs involved can also be worth thousands of pounds.

New measures to tackle hare coursing were introduced in August, meaning convicted offenders could be stopped from owning or keeping dogs.

Trespass, or being equipped to trespass, with the intention of using a dog to search for a hare is now a criminal offence.

Courts can now also order that police be repaid for costs of kennelling dogs seized in connection with a hare coursing-related offence.

What is hare coursing?

• The coursers will walk along the field to frighten the hare into the open

• The dog catches the hare and kills it by "ragging" it - shaking the animal in its teeth

• The dogs - usually greyhounds, lurchers or salukis - are on a slip lead, threaded so it can be easily released

• The dead hare is usually left in the field or thrown in a ditch

• Since 2005, hare coursing has been illegal throughout the UK. The Hunting Act 2004 makes it an offence to hunt wild mammals with dogs

Source: Lincolnshire Police