Two charged under new hare coursing legislation

New offences were introduced in August

Two men have become the first in Lincolnshire to be charged under new laws to tackle illegal hare coursing.

The pair, aged 26 and 21, from Coventry and Northamptonshire, are accused of three counts of trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares.

They are also charged with one count of hunting a wild mammal with a dog and are due to appear before magistrates in Boston later this month.

Reports of hare coursing led to their arrests in the Holbeach area in August.

Lincolnshire Police said it received several reports of hare coursing in the Gedney and West Pinchbeck on 25 August.

Ch Insp Steve Williamson: "The legislation these males were charged with only came into effect last year, and they are the first offenders in the Lincolnshire area to be charged under this new act."

The Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which passed into law on 1 August, made it an offence to go equipped for, search for, or pursue hares with dogs, and an offence to trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs.

Those convicted of doing so face an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison.