A Knaresborough man has fined after admitting charges of hare coursing in East Yorkshire.

Shane Hooton, 31, appeared at Beverley Magistrates Court on Monday (October 9) for sentencing.

He was charged with trespass and going equipped to trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs.

Hooton, of Thistle Hill in Knaresborough, was caught along with three other men, John Langan, 37, Joseph Foster, 35, and Dean Adams, 27, by Humberside Police coming off private farmland at Leven in East Yorkshire on December 23, 2022.

They were in possession of running dogs without any permissions to be on the land.

In court, Hooton was fined £500, issued with £85 cost and a £200 victim surcharge. 

He was also given a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order which included conditions around the control of dogs, not being on private farmland without permission and a complete ban on entering Humberside.

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Langan, of The Hawthorns, Great Ayton, was sentenced to a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months. He was also given a 10-year Criminal Behaviour Order with the same conditions at Hooton.

Foster, of Manton Crescent in Worksop, was sentenced to a £500 fine, £85 costs and £200 victim surcharge.

Adams, of Hebron Drive in Stokesley, failed to appear in court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

Speaking after sentencing, sergeant Kevin Jones of the rural task force at Humberside Police, said:

“This Humberside Police’s first suspended prison sentence for hare coursing offences, our longest Criminal Behaviour Order of 10 years and fines and costs totalling over £1800.

“It certainly sends out a message that such offences are taken seriously by the criminal justice system and will not be tolerated by Humberside Police.”