22nd July 2023

The men were reported to the police who caught them at the scene while hare coursing.

Two men infiltrated fields in Essex to let their greyhounds loose on hares – and have now been sentenced in one of the first cases of its kind in the UK. The men broke into fields in Paglesham near Rochford at the beginning of this year after travelling from out of the county.

Hare coursing usually takes place when crops have recently been harvested, allowing for greyhounds to chase hares by sight across fields easily. It causes damage to crops, harms animal welfare and threatens rural communities and can result in intimidation and even violence.

Tommy Gray, 19, of Weller Road, Amersham, Buckinghamshire, and 20-year-old Joseph Abercromie, of Heartenoak Road, Hawkhurst, Kent, both admitted trespassing with intent to search for, or to pursue, hares with dogs when they appeared before…