Save the hare

And punish the courser

Poachers who hunt wild hares with dogs can expect to receive prison sentences of up to six months under a new guideline issued by the Sentencing Council today. It takes effect in England and Wales next month.

A leveret (young brown hare)

By legislation passed in 2022, the maximum penalties for offences of taking or destroying game by night (under legislation passed in 1828) and daytime trespass in search of game (under legislation passed in 1831) were increased from a fine to six months’ imprisonment.¹ At the same time, parliament enacted new offences of trespass and being equipped. But until now there were no sentencing guidelines in force.

After researching the impact of hare coursing on rural communities, the Sentencing Council concluded that a sentence of up to 26 weeks’ imprisonment should be passed in cases of higher culpability that caused greater harm.

Higher culpability factors include:

• Significant planning

• Intimidation or use of force

• Expectation of financial gain

• Involvement of children

Greater harm factors include causing:

• Injury, fear or distress

• Serious harm to property, land, crops or wildlife habitat

• Distress, injury and loss of life to animals

• Serious disruption or inconvenience

A sentence lower than six months can be increased if there are aggravating factors. These include gambling on the outcome — a common aspect of the crime — and circulating details, photographs or videos of the offence on social media to record, publicise or promote activity.

Judge Simon Drew KC, a member of the Sentencing Council, said:

Illegal activities associated with hare coursing cause real harm — to wildlife, to property, to farmers and their families and to the wider rural communities that often deal with the repercussions of this aggressive crime. The strength of feeling we heard through our consultation made clear just how seriously this issue is felt. This guideline ensures the courts have the tools to reflect that harm in sentencing.

As required by a legislative amendment rushed through parliament last year, the lord chancellor David Lammy and the lady chief justice Baroness Carr were consulted about the new guideline and gave it their consent.

My assessment of the King’s speech — and the prospects for criminal justice reform amidst the current political turmoil — will appear in tomorrow’s Law Society Gazette.

1. A third conviction for night poaching was originally punishable by deportation.