New guidance to strengthen police response to hare coursing

The new guideline, published by the Sentencing Council and effective from 1 June, is the first dedicated sentencing guidance covering hare coursing offences. It is intended to help magistrates and judges take a more consistent approach when sentencing offenders.

Hare coursing, in which dogs are used to chase hares across farmland, remains a persistent issue for rural police forces, with offending often linked to trespass, criminal damage, intimidation of landowners and wider organised criminality.

The introduction of the guideline comes amid renewed policing efforts to tackle the offence.

Earlier this month, Essex Police announced plans to strengthen its response to hare coursing, including additional officer training, improved access to 4×4 vehicles, greater use of drones and a commitment to prioritise reports of hare coursing in progress as emergency incidents.

The force said the measures were aimed at improving officers’ ability to respond quickly to incidents, gather evidence and disrupt offenders operating across rural areas.

Lincolnshire Police said in March that nine men had been sentenced following two hare coursing incidents investigated under Operation Galileo, the national policing operation targeting the offence.

The Sentencing Council’s new guideline covers four offences associated with hare coursing and follows legislative changes introduced under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which increased penalties and introduced new powers to seize dogs and equipment linked to offending.

Police leaders and rural crime teams have long argued that hare coursing can have a significant impact on farming communities, both through financial damage and the fear and intimidation caused to landowners and residents.