Epping & Roydon: Hare coursing suspects issued with legal orders by local policing team

Three Roydon men have been issued with legal orders after police received reports of hare coursing in a field at Epping Upland.

Following these reports, a group of four people were tracked by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) helicopter across the field on 20 October.

When the group reached the B181 Epping Road junction with Bury Lane, they were met by officers from Loughton Local Policing Team who had been guided in by the helicopter crew. A loose lurcher was found in bushes nearby.

Now, three men aged 33, 29 and 28, all from Roydon, have been issued with community protection warnings which run for three years. CPWs tell people they must stop certain behaviour or risk further action.

PC King says:

“Hare coursing is a dangerous offence and even we can’t prove the offence, we still need to take positive action.
“Hare coursing is often linked to organised crime and involves trespassing, cruelty to animals and threats to farmers and landowners.
“If a CPW is ignored, the next step is a community protection notice which, if breached, can lead to fines or criminal prosecution. Courts also take such breaches seriously when dealing with 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 for us?

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, 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 our Rural Crime webpages.

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