From today (Monday 1st June) courts in England and Wales will follow new guidance for sentencing hare coursing offences. The new guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales after public consultation, cover four areas: trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs; being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs; trespass in the daytime in search of game; and taking or destroying game by night.
Major issue
In recent years hare coursing has become a major issue for farming businesses in some areas of Wales. In particular, the Vale of Glamorgan has become a hotspot for this illegal activity, where farmers challenging perpetrators have been subjected to intimidation and threats of violence.
NFU Cymru has welcomed the new sentencing guidelines for hare coursing offences as an important step forward in deterring hare coursers, but has stressed that these new measures will only be effective when supported by targeted police efforts on the ground.
Impact on farming families
NFU Cymru President Abi Reader said:
“Illegal hare coursing continues to blight the lives of farming families in Wales. The ramifications of these activities run much deeper than damage to farmland. In so many cases our members have seen property destroyed, livestock harmed and in the most serious instances, farmers have been subjected to extreme threats of violence simply for trying to move offenders off their fields. When you consider that farms are so often family homes as well as a place of work, it makes the intimidation and ongoing threat that our members are subjected to all the more sinister.
“We welcome the new sentencing guidelines introduced by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, which better reflect the seriousness of illegal hare coursing activities and the impact it has on farming families. We hope this new guidance will act as a deterrent to those who continue to act with a flagrant disregard for the law and whose deplorable, reckless behaviour endangers livestock, wildlife and those living and working in the farming community.
“The revised impetus for the courts setting out the clear aggravating factors for judges to consider must now be supported by a consistent policing approach on the ground. We need to see a timely response to these offences – no matter where they take place in Wales – so that officers can support members at times of conflict, gather evidence, apprehend offenders and help bring them to justice. It is only then that the value within these new guidelines will truly be realised.
Vale of Glamorgan farmers remain concerned
“The Vale of Glamorgan appears to be the epicentre for these issues right now and farmers in the area remain concerned as to the level of dedicated police resource to tackle the issue. NFU Cymru continues to make the case that South Wales Police should commit to resourcing a full-time rural crime team in the force area, staffed with personnel whose primary remit is tackling crimes targeting farms and rural communities. We have seen the merits of such an approach in the North Wales, Dyfed-Powys and Gwent force areas. We of course recognise the range of policing challenges presented in the South Wales Police force area, however those living and farming in the urban fringes should be able to carry out their day job of feeding the nation without being subjected to violence.
“NFU Cymru continues to work with rural crime officers, police forces and each force area’s elected Police and Crime Commissioner in a bid to highlight the impact of hare coursing and other rural crime on farm businesses.”