Last week, Richard caught up with Police Constables Stewart Grant and Grant Hayes of the Bedfordshire Police Wildlife and Rural Crime Team to hear about the successful prosecutions secured against six hare coursers following an 'event' last November.
Richard Fuller MP said:
Many of you will remember that, coinciding with the funeral of a well-known courser, over a hundred men and their dogs descended on Bedfordshire for a mass hare coursing event, culminating in the disgusting scenes of dead hares being dangled from cars in a parade through Bedford town centre.
PC Grant has worked tirelessly for six months to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice, resulting in fines and court costs being imposed as well as crucially, being issued with Criminal Behaviour Orders with restrictions that cover seven counties including Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Kent. A further five men will have their hearings later this year.
The stiffer penalties introduced in my Private Member's Bill, and subsequently incorporated into the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, were not in place in time for these prosecutions, but future perpetrators know that they could face unlimited fines and/or a custodial sentence. They also know that through the commitment and diligence of officers like Stu Grant and the rest of the Rural Crime Team, they will be caught and prosecuted for this horrible crime.
Great job!
For more details, please see the press release from Bedfordshire Police here.
