A MAN and a teenager from Ongar have been issued with legal warnings after police received reports of hare coursing in a field near Norton Heath.

Following these reports, a group of three people riding a quad bike people were tracked by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) helicopter across the field on 7 October.

When the group reached Willingale Road, they were met by officers from our Rural Engagement Team who had been guided in by the helicopter crew. Officers recovered two dead hares and a dead pheasant from the field and a catapult was seized when the trio were searched.

A 20-year-old and a 16-year-old were subsequently interviewed under section 2 of the Poaching Prevention Act 1862 and have now been issued with community protection warnings which run for three years. CPWs tell people they must stop certain behaviour or risk further action. No further action was taken against a 15-year-old.

Rural engagement officer PC Luke Jones says: “Hare coursing is a very cruel activity. It’s often linked to organised crime and usually involves trespassing, harming animals and threatening farmers and landowners.

“Vehicles and quad bikes used for hare coursing can also damage the soil in fields, which can affect future crop growth.

“Even if we don’t have enough evidence to bring charges, we can still take steps to stop people from doing it. This is where community protection warnings come in.
“If someone ignores a warning, the next step is a community protection notice. Breaking one of these can result fines or criminal charges and courts take these breaches very seriously in hare coursing cases.”

In this case, the CPWs warn the recipients that their conduct is ‘unreasonable’ and ‘having a detrimental effect … on the quality of life of those in the locality.
‘The particular issues are illegal coursing, lamping and poaching, trespassing in search of game and the anti-social behaviour that these activities bring in Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk and Suffolk’, they state.

The seven police forces of Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk and Suffolk work closely together, and with the National Police Air Service, to combat hare coursing activities across county borders in eastern England under the 7Force Operation Galileo banner.

Do you have information?
If you see hare coursing taking place, ring 999 immediately and provide as much information as you can – for example, a What3Words location, a description of the people involved, vehicle registration numbers, vehicle descriptions and the location and direction of travel.

When the police give you a reference number, please put this and the day’s date into any WhatsApp groups you are a part of so that anyone in the area with information can ring us and we can link it to the same incident, if relevant.

However, it is very important that you don’t put yourself at risk.
If you see anything which you feel needs police attention, or you have information about a crime or criminal activity, always ring 999 if it is an emergency or a crime in progress.
Otherwise, you can report it online at www.essex.police.uk/ro where you can also speak to an online Live Chat operator. Alternatively, you can ring 101.
You can also contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, online or by calling 0800 555 111.

Crime prevention

For specialist crime prevention advice and other information, visit the Essex Police Rural Crime webpages at www.essex.police.uk/ruralcrime