NFU Cymru has welcomed new sentencing guidelines which ‘better reflect the seriousness of illegal hare coursing activities and the impact it has on farming families.’

From 1 June, courts in England and Wales will follow new guidance for sentencing hare coursing offences.

The new guidelines, developed by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales after public consultation, cover four areas: trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs; being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs; trespass in the daytime in search of game; and taking or destroying game by night.

In recent years hare coursing has become a major issue for farming businesses in some areas of Wales.

NFU Cymru has welcomed the new sentencing guidelines for hare coursing offences as an important step forward in deterring hare coursers, but has stressed that these new measures will only be effective when supported by targeted police efforts on the ground.

NFU Cymru President Abi Reader said: “Illegal hare coursing continues to blight the lives of farming families in Wales.

“The ramifications of these activities run much deeper than damage to farmland. In so many cases our members have seen property destroyed, livestock harmed and in the most serious instances, farmers have been subjected to extreme threats of violence simply for trying to move offenders off their fields. When you consider that farms are so often family homes as well as a place of work, it makes the intimidation and ongoing threat that our members are subjected to all the more sinister.

“We welcome the new sentencing guidelines introduced by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, which better reflect the seriousness of illegal hare coursing activities and the impact it has on farming families. We hope this new guidance will act as a deterrent to those who continue to act with a flagrant disregard for the law and whose deplorable, reckless behaviour endangers livestock, wildlife and those living and working in the farming community.

“The revised impetus for the courts setting out the clear aggravating factors for judges to consider must now be supported by a consistent policing approach on the ground. We need to see a timely response to these offences – no matter where they take place in Wales – so that officers can support members at times of conflict, gather evidence, apprehend offenders and help bring them to justice. It is only then that the value within these new guidelines will truly be realised.

“NFU Cymru continues to work with rural crime officers, police forces and each force area’s elected Police and Crime Commissioner in a bid to highlight the impact of hare coursing and other rural crime on farm businesses.”

Hare coursing is the illegal pursuit of hares by dogs on flat, open farmland conducted by coursers. In many cases the chase is filmed, with large sums of money gambled on which dog will catch the animal first.

Welsh police services are now participating in Operation Galileo Cymru.