Man jailed for hare coursing offences and banned from owning certain dogs
Court issues Criminal Behaviour Orders for hare coursing incidents.
A 32-year-old man from Northampton has been issued a Criminal Behaviour Order after pleading guilty to hare coursing offences in West Lancashire and Chorley.
John Doran was caught by Lancashire Police’s South Rural Task Force last year, on 5th October, engaging in hare coursing with lurcher type dogs on private land in Ormskirk and Croston.
Following his arrest, police searched Doran's vehicle and seized equipment related to hare coursing.
Last week, at Burnley Magistrates Court, on 29th September, Doran admitted to four poaching offences, including hunting wild mammals with dogs and trespassing with the intent to pursue hares.
Doran has been fined £1160 and issued a five-year Criminal Behaviour Order that prohibits him from owning lurcher, lurcher type dogs or sighthounds in England and Wales.
He is also banned from being in Lancashire with any sighthound or associating with others who have them.
Another individual, Joel Miller, 29, from Rhyl, also pleaded guilty to similar offences and was fined £1205.
Miller had already received a seven-year Criminal Behaviour Order in January for hare coursing in Humberside.
PC Sean Dalby of the South Rural Task Force emphasised the impact of hare coursing on rural communities, citing the harm to wildlife and damage to farmland.
"Farmers and landowners should not have to live with the fear and frustration that this criminality brings," Dalby said.
He highlighted the importance of Criminal Behaviour Orders in preventing further offences and protecting rural areas from hare coursing activities.