Wellingborough men among 43 arrested over hare coursing after major cross-force investigation
Two men from Wellingborough have been charged with attending a banned hare coursing event in neighbouring Cambridgeshire.
Detectives have charged 25 people as part of an ongoing investigation into hare coursing and violent disorder that took place across Cambridgeshire at the beginning of this year.
Hare coursing was made illegal in 2004. It involves the hunting of hares by greyhounds.
The charges follow a series of coordinated arrests and seizures made in connection with widespread criminal activity that shocked rural communities on Saturday, January 25.
The events, which included reports of hare coursing, criminal damage, and dangerous driving, caused significant disruption and concern in communities including Fordham, Ely, Prickwillow, Littleport, Welney, Chatteris, Manea, Wimblington and Doddington.
Supported by Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Lincolnshire, Thames Valley, West Mercia, Leicestershire, West Midlands, Northampton and Essex Police, as well as the National Rural Crime Unity (NRCU) and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, Cambridgeshire officers carried out extensive inquiries in the weeks and months since, including arrest warrants across multiple counties.
Now, 43 men and boys, largely from the travelling community, have been arrested and one juvenile voluntarily interviewed. Of those, 25 have been charged with a combination of 39 offences and will appear in court in September:
They include Quie Doherty, 19, of Gipsy Lane, Wellingborough and Francie Doherty, 47, of the same address, who have both been charged with attending a hare coursing event. They will appear at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on September 12. Two other men from the same site have been issued with court orders banning them from taking part in future events. They have not been named, but they are aged 23 and 47.
The remainder of those charged are:
- Benjamin Lee, 27, of High Meadow Farm, Melton Road, Barrow Upon Soar, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- Samuel Sheady, 45, of Heol Cefnydd, Wrexham charged with attending a hare coursing event and breach of a Criminal Behaviour Order.
Miles Doran, 34, of Barlestone Road, Bagworth and Thornton, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- Roy Lee, 26, of Barrowby Vale, Grantham, charged with attending a hare coursing event, failing to comply with a traffic signal, driving a vehicle with the registration mark obscured and driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous condition.
- Anthony Coyle, 32, of Pilgrims Lane, Grays, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- Francis Coyle, 19, of Pilgrims Lane, Grays, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- Mark Harris, 20, of Romany Way Clay Lake, Spalding, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- Michael Stevenson, 25, of Fen Road, Cambridge, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- Bobby-James Harris, 18, of Romany Way Clay Lake, Spalding, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- John Lee, 23, of Fen Road, Cambridge, charged with attending a hare coursing event and breaching a community protection notice.
- Mark Harris Senior, 48, of Romany Way Clay Lake, Spalding, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- Tom Bower, 27, of Beck Bank, Spalding, charged with attending a hare coursing event, failing to comply with a traffic signal, driving a vehicle with the registration mark obscured and driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous condition.
- Francie Lee, 22, of Fen Road, Cambridge, charged with attending a hare coursing event and theft from a shop.
- James Herne, 24, of Fen Road, Cambridge, charged with attending a hare coursing event and theft from a shop.
- Edward Stevenson, 26, of Fen Road, Cambridge, charged with attending a hare coursing event and theft from a shop.
- Mark Loveridge, 45, of Milton Close, Slough, charged with driving a motor vehicle in a dangerous condition.
- Fredrick Butcher, 51, of Chelmsford Road, Ingatestone, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- William Deadman Senior, 47, of Bickenhill Lane, Solihull, charged with theft from a shop.
- Freddy-Cole Butcher, 22, of Chelmsford Road, Ingatestone, charged with theft from a shop.
- Levi Lee, 36, of Basingstoke Road, Reading, charged with attending a hare coursing event.
- A 13-year-old boy, from Solihull, charged with theft from a shop, driving otherwise in accordance with a licence and driving with no insurance.
- Tony Taylor, 23, of Sandy Lane, Stourport on Severn, charged with theft from a shop.
- 26-year-old man (address unknown) charged with attending a hare coursing event and making off without payment. A first instance warrant has been issued.
A further 17 people have been issued with Community Protection Warnings and Community Protection Notices. The orders ban them from being in possession of, be in control of, or be in the company of any dog on private land without the owner’s written permission; force them to ensure any dog they have is on a lead; ban them from being in a vehicle with a dog while outside of a five-mile radius of their home; and ban them from being in possession of catapults or air weapons.
You must not drive or be conveyed in a mechanically propelled vehicle onto private fields or agriculture field belonging to another person without written permission presentable to an officer.
You must not use any public spaces, footpaths, bridleways or other such like areas belonging to the Local Authority or another unspecified person with the intention to hare course.
You must not shout at, swear at, or intimidate any persons in the seven counties of Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent.
1. A 39-year-old man from Lutterworth has been issued with a CPW.
2. A 27-year-old man from Nottingham has been issued with a CPW.
3. A 26-year-old man from Wellingborough has been issued with a CPN.
4. A 43-year-old man from Wellingborough has been issued with a CPW.
5. A 21-year-old man from Slough has been issued with a CPW.
6. A 37-year-old man from Eastleigh has been issued with a CPW.
7. A 47-year-old man from Solihull has been issued with a CPN
8. A 26-year-old man from Melton Mowbray has been issued with a CPW
9. A 28-year-old man from Colchester has been issued with a CPN
10. A 17-year-old boy from Staines-Upon-Thames has been issued with a CPW.
11. A 22-year-old man from Stourport-on-Severn has been issued with a CPW.
12. A 22-year-old man from Ingatestone has been issued with a CPW
13. A 19-year-old man from Slough has been issued with a CPN.
14. A 21-year-old man from Slough has been issued with a CPW.
15. A 23-year-old man from Stourport has been issued with a CPW.
16. A 40-year-old man from Stourport-on-Severn has been issued with a CPW.
17. A 17-year-old boy from Ingatestone has been issued with a CPW
Detective Inspector Matthew Selves, who has led the investigation, said: “We do not underestimate the impact January’s events had on our communities and the devastation they left behind. From the outset, we committed to a thorough investigation, and the charging of 25 individuals demonstrates the scale of our response and determination to hold those responsible to account.”