Court demands £52,000 from hare coursing trio

Lincolnshire Police said the three men, Samuel Sheady senior, 44, of Bro Gwilym, Wrexham; Samuel Sheady junior, 23, of Bro Gwilym, Wrexham; and Jason Davis, 35, of Lower Ecton Road, Northampton, were arrested on November 29, 2022, after they were seen hare coursing in the Shoff Drove area, near Donington, and also in Kirton.

A police spokesman said they were travelling in a green VW Touareg, which was covered in mud and they had with them four lurcher-type dogs which were seen to chase a hare across a field, eventually killing it.

A dead hare was later recovered from a water filled ditch having been thrown there by one of the men.

Several officers from the force’s Specialist Operations team, which includes the Rural Crime Action Team, Roads Policing, Armed Policing and the Dog Section were involved in locating and arresting the men.

The VW Touareg is said to have been seen by officers being driven on the A1121 Boardsides travelling towards the A17 at Hubberts Bridge. The driver accelerated away along the A17, turning into the village of Great Hale. The car was driven over a residential lawn and crashed into a fence. The three men fled from the vehicle and ran across open fields. Officers, including a dog handler gave chase and all three men were caught and arrested.

Prior to his arrest, one of the men tried to hide a thermal imaging camera and a mobile phone under a large agricultural reel. Following a search both items were recovered and the court has ordered the camera and phone to be forfeited.

Officers found four dogs in the boot of the Touareg, including one that was wearing a tracker around his neck. The dogs were forfeited and re-homed, the cash seized, the VW Touareg, night vision goggles, mobile phone, and dog training equipment were also forfeited.

The men were summoned to Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on June 22 last year, where they pleaded not guilty. They later changed their plea to guilty and were sentenced on September 5 this year.

The defendants all pleaded guilty to the offence of being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs and were ordered to pay compensation for kennelling fees of £15,900 each.

They were each handed a 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order, meaning they cannot enter any private land with a sighthound, greyhound, long dog or lurcher type dog or cross breed during hare coursing season of July 31 to April 30 in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire.

They cannot be on any private land in the counties with any non-excluded dog without the express and written advance permission of the private landowner.

All three men were disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Additionally, Jason Davis and Samuel Sheady junior were each fined £700 and each ordered to pay £280 victim surcharge and £500 CPS costs. Samuel Sheady senior was fined £750 and ordered to pay £300 victim surcharge and £500 CPS costs.