More arrests as dispersal order placed across county

Update, 3.44pm, 29 November 

Those arrested men have been released on bail and investigations are ongoing.

A dispersal order reamins in place across the county. 

Anyone who sees hare coursing taking place is asked to contact us immediately on 999 and provide officers with a description of the people involved, registration numbers and vehicle descriptions and the location and direction of travel.

It is important that people do not confront those hare coursing, or put themselves at risk.

Anyone with reports of hare coursing that is not happening right now are asked to contact us on 101.

 

Original release: 

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of hare coursing offences as a dispersal order comes into force across the county.

The two men, aged 34, and 24, from Doncaster and Nottingham, were arrested after we received a report of hare coursing at Amber Hill, near Boston, at 1.27pm on Monday, 28 November.

Our officers attended and located a Subaru Forester which came to a halt after colliding with a coach at Swineshead Bridge. Two occupants made off and were arrested shortly afterwards.  They remain in custody and will be questioned in due course.

This comes as we issue a dispersal order across the county following an increase in reports of hare coursing.

Under the order, suspected hare coursers will be required to leave Lincolnshire.

The order began at 10.40am today, Tuesday 29 November, and is in place for 48 hours. Anyone returning to the county faces arrest.

The order was put in place after we received 10 calls in relation to suspected hare coursers between 8.30am and 11am today.

As the hare coursing season continues, our Rural Crime Action Team continue to patrol the county for potential hare coursers and attend reported incidents.

The Rural Crime Action Team assists with Operation Galileo which is a national approach to tackling and deterring hare coursers. We work with 31 other forces.

We continue to target hare coursers and have made seven arrests in the past two weeks (insert links from website).

So far this year, we have seen fewer reports of hare coursing, In September this year we received 15 reports compared to 55 the previous September, in October we received 34 compared to 81 last October.

This year also has the added benefit of new legislation which increases the penalties on conviction and has also provided police forces with new offences. 

These support the original legislation which dates back to the Game Act of 1831, which made it an offence to trespass on land in pursuit of game which traditionally used to be a few men with one or two dogs walking in a line across a field.  However, now hares are spotted using thermal cameras or binoculars.  Trespass is as simple as having no permission to be on the land, for example: not knowing the name of the farmer.

The new legislation creates an offence of being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs, typically this will include dogs such as hunting dogs such as the lurcher, greyhound or saluki, binoculars, thermal scopes and video cameras.  The second offence is trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs. 

Superintendent Lee Pache said: “We have built close links with our rural communities which has helped us build intelligence around where hare coursers operate and sometimes who they are. Some criminals will travel hundreds of miles to be involved and are often associated with organised crime gangs.

“What many people don’t realise is that the hare coursing is a means to these gangs generating huge sums of money through live-streaming their activities for illegal gambling around the world. This then funds other criminal activity.

“We would urge members of the public to report any instances of active hare coursing by calling 999 or reporting online after the event.”

Marc Jones, Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, added: “I pledged to make tackling rural crime a priority and have ensured the force has been provided with the equipment and frontline officers to make a real difference.

“I am delighted the force has deployed these extra resources successfully. Keeping rural communities safe will continue to be an important focus.”

Anyone who sees hare coursing taking place is asked to contact us immediately on 999 and provide officers with a description of the people involved, registration numbers and vehicle descriptions and the location and direction of travel.

It is important that people do not confront those hare coursing, or put themselves at risk.

Anyone with reports of hare coursing that is not happening right now are asked to contact us on 101.