CONVICTED (2024) | Eugene Meenaghan, born 10 February 2001, of 43 Crabgate Lane, Skellow, Doncaster DN6 8LE, Joseph Murtagh, born December 2001, from Woodlands, Doncaster, Jay Poole born 2 April 2004, of 3 The Circuit, Woodlands, Doncaster DN6 7TE, and Jake Reidy, born 23 May 2005, of 58 Princess Avenue, Stainforth, Doncaster DN7 5QY – for the possession of hare coursing equipment and destroying a farmer’s field.
The four men, who are all prolific wildlife persecutors, travelled from Doncaster to the hamlet of Apley, near Wragby, East Lindsey, Lincolnshire, in the early hours of 1 October 2023. They then drove through a farmer’s field, damaging the land and destroying crops, before attempting to leave the area.
Eugene Meenaghan
The crime was reported to Lincolnshire Police and patrolling officers from Spec Ops quickly identified the vehicle and stopped the group near Burton Waters.
Officers found longdogs and equipment such as lamps – used in lamping to stun wild animals before dogs are set loose.
They were arrested and subsequently videos of animal fights were found on their phones.
Jake Reidy
All four men were charged with being equipped to hare course, breach of section nine of the animal welfare act and criminal damage. They pleaded guilty to these charges.
Jay Poole with father Craig Poole
On Thursday 25 April 2024 officials at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court told the group to pay out a combined total of £19,791.72 in costs and compensation.
Eugene Meenaghan will pay £5,262,93. Joseph Murtagh will pay £4,842.93. Jay Poole will pay £4,842.93. Jake Reidy will pay £4,842.93.
Magistrates described the crimes as ‘cruel and despicable’ and said the events of that night had ‘caused great distress’.
Joe Murtagh
This result comes after a lengthy police investigation and PC Karen Irving, who works for the rural crime action team, insists this behaviour won’t be tolerated.
She said: “We are determined to make Lincolnshire the safest place to live, work and visit. This result shows we will use all avenues available to us to bring people to justice and protect our communities and wildlife.
Sentencing | costs and compensation; 10-year criminal behaviour order not to enter Lincolnshire with longdogs; 100 hours of community service. Forfeiture of mobile phones and lamping equipment. Disqualified from keeping dogs for 10 years..
CONVICTED (2024) | wildlife persecutor and backyard breeder Riley Jay Ronald Leigh-Shaw, born 16 April 2001, of Southern Cottages, Horton Road, near Stanwell, Staines-upon-Thames TW19 6AG – kept two lurchers, a Patterdale terrier and a Jack Russell in dilapidated and filthy outdoor cages.
Riley Leigh-Shaw, an animal abuser from the Spelthorne district of Surrey.
Surrey Police officers found the four dogs after conducting a warrant at an address in Stanwell on May 11, 2023. The animals, who all appeared neglected and malnourished, were kept in dilapidated wooden cages within the garden of the property.
Two of Leigh-Shaw’s dogs. All four were malnourished and kept in ramshackle cages full of rubbish and excrement.
The dogs were seized under section 18 of the Animal Welfare Act and taken to a vets for assessment. At least one of them needed urgent medical treatment.
In court, Leigh-Shaw pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering and four counts of keeping the dogs in unsuitable conditions.
Investigating Officer PC Duncan MacKenzie said; “This was a shocking case where the dogs were kept in appalling conditions. Fortunately, the dogs have all now been placed in loving homes and will be able to live as they should.
“If you think someone is mistreating or neglecting animals in their care, please make sure to report it to us.”
Sentencing | 75 days in prison. Ten-year ban on owning animals.
CONVICTED (2024) | brothers Kristen Christopher Cooper, born 2 May 1999, and Todd James Edward Cooper, born c. 1994, of 24 Westbury Close, Bransgore, Christchurch BH23 8AZ* – tortured wild animals to death and filmed their agonies.
Sadistic brothers Kristen Cooper (left) and Todd Cooper
Career criminal brothers Kristen and Todd Cooper, who are gypsies, made a series of sick videos showing hares and deer being abused and mutilated.
During one depraved incident, the pair mutilated the genitalia of a deer – to the extent that officials could not tell if the animal was male and female – and stabbed another in the eye on camera, causing an ‘extreme level of suffering’.
In another twisted video they held a hare by his head and encouraged a dog to bite him.
A vet reviewing the videos as part of the investigation described the footage, filmed in 2021 and 2022, as the “worst case of animal abuse” he had seen in his 24-year career.
“These images will stay with me forever,” he said.
Other videos showed deer being dragged by their antlers having appeared to have suffered spinal injuries from possibly being hit by a car, with one piece of footage showing a man raising a wooden object above a helpless deer’s head as if he was going to strike it.
The brothers were caught after police seized a phone containing the shocking videos.
Kristen Cooper was charged with seven counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal with Todd Cooper being accused of one count.
But after appearing at the crown court for these offences and being released on bail, just days later the pair were apprehended again after attacking a mother and her son outside a Co-Op in Betsy Lane in Bransgore on March 4, 2023.
In a video shown in court, the pair can be seen with a third unknown man, ramming another car before getting out and attacking the vehicle with a catapult, a crowbar and a baseball bat.
The victims of the attack later gave evidence at trial with the mother saying she “genuinely believed they wanted to kill us”.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Stuart Ellacott said the animal abuse was “sadistic” adding that the animals were in “distress and suffering”.
Aleks Lloyd, defending Kristen – who has eight convictions for ten offences – said this is the first time his client has been in custody adding that he “appears to be getting his head down and getting on with it”.
Ruba Huleihel defending Todd, who has 24 convictions for 52 offences, said her client has ADHD and was exposed to violence from a very young age.
Judge Peter Henry sentenced the pair for a variety of offences committed in the New Forest and in Dorset, including actual bodily harm, criminal damage and threatening a person with an offensive weapon.
He said: “One would have thought that both of you being brought up in the New Forest you would have had more respect for such defenceless creatures.
“It was being filmed, other people were present and other people seemed to find it all very amusing.”
Both men were given restraining orders banning them from ever contacting the mother and son they attacked ever again.
This image shows the Cooper brothers and an as yet unidentified accomplice participating in hare coursing, a cruel sport in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare
Police Constable Sebastian Haggett, of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team – who led the case alongside Hampshire police – said after the sentencing: “These are without doubt some of the most horrifying offences I have ever investigated.”
Angharad Thomas, Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said: “The level of cruelty displayed in this case is beyond comprehension and the brothers showed an inexplicable disregard for the welfare of these animals peacefully existing in the wild.
“An expert witness for the prosecution described the actions of Kristen and Todd Cooper as the worst case of animal abuse they had ever come across in their 24-year veterinary career.
“The CPS welcomes today’s sentence and hopes it sends a clear message that we will continue to work with the police to bring offenders of these disturbing crimes to justice.”
Sentencing | Kristen Cooper: jailed for five years; 10-year criminal behaviour order. Banned from owning a dog for ten years. Todd Cooper- jailed for three years and eight months.
CONVICTED (2023) | serial hare courser Fred Holmes, born c. 1963, of Eye View Travellers Site, Thorney Road, Eye, Peterborough PE6 7UA – for trespassing on private land and using dogs to chase and kill hares in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.
Traveller Fred Holmes was fined nearly £20k after being caught in Lincolnshire using dogs to kill hares
Following a report of hare coursing in Low Road, Crowland, on November 13, 2022, officers from Lincolnshire Police’s Rural Crime Action Team attended and located Fred Holmes, who appeared to be equipped with dogs on the land.
Holmes was subsequently charged with trespass in pursuit of hare and going equipped for trespass.
Northamptonshire Police joined the investigation as he was also suspected of hare coursing in Warmington on October 23, 2022.
Holmes was already subject to a community protection notice in Northamptonshire after committing similar offences previously, and his three lurcher-type dogs were seized alongside his mobile phone.
The joint force investigation resulted in Holmes being charged with two counts of trespass in pursuit of game, and two counts of being equipped to trespass in pursuit of hares.
Despite initially denying the Northamptonshire offences, at Boston Magistrates’ Court on November 10, 2023, he entered guilty pleas to all four counts.
Sentencing | ordered to pay £16,783.50 for the kennel costs of keeping the three dogs since their seizure, as well as fines for the two trespass offences and two victim surcharges, making a total of £18,557.50. Three-year criminal behaviour order which prevents him from entering any private land in Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire or Cambridgeshire with a sighthound, greyhound, long dog or lurcher type dog or cross breed, or being in the company of anyone with this kind of dog on private land, during the recognised hare coursing season (July 31 – April 30). Deprivation order for three dogs; forfeiture of thermal imaging equipment and a Citroen car. Banned from keeping dogs for 10 years (expires November 2033).
CONVICTED (2023) | hare coursers Darren Prenter, born 25 May 1996, of Velsheda Court, Belfast BT14 7LZ, Patrick McGourty, born 27 December 1995, and Patrick Robert Shannon, born 17 March 1972, of Cranbrook Court, Belfast BT14 7HA.
Hare coursing gang members L-R Darren Prenter, Paddy Shannon, Patrick McGourty
Prenter and McGourty admitted illegal hare coursing as well as aggravated trespass in Glenwherry Moor in County Antrim on January 22, 2023. Shannon only admitted the aggravated trespass offence.
Following their guilty pleas, the Public Prosecution Service withdrew charges of killing game and taking part in a hare-coursing event.
A defence lawyer told the court the moor’s gamekeeper alerted the police to suspected hare coursing.
When officers arrived, the defendants came walking across fields with three lurchers and a springer spaniel.
While they claimed they had been out walking their dogs, two dead hares were found during a search of a car.
The trio said they had found them by the roadside but were given a formal police caution.
The Public Prosecution Service told the court earlier this week that hare coursing had been a persistent problem on the moor.
District Judge Nigel Broderick replied: “I think I’ve dealt with this area before.”
A defence lawyer conceded that since the dead animals had been found with puncture wounds, it was likely they had died in coursing.
But they added there was no evidence they had been killed on the moor.
Judge Broderick doubted the trio had been in the area merely to walk dogs.
He said: “They all live in Belfast [and] they were in Ballymena. It’s a long way to go just for a walk.”
The judge said: “I take a dim view of this behaviour. It’s an area of conservation, well-maintained, and this was a deliberate act.”
The case against Shannon was adjourned until December 7 for a pre-sentence report.
Sentencing | Prenter and McGourty were given a two-month custodial sentence, suspended for three years.
Career criminal Patrick Robert Shannon has now been sentenced. Shannon, who has 156 previous convictions, was given three months in prison, suspended for three years.
District Judge Nigel Broderick told him: “On balance, I will leave something hanging over your head.”
Shannon, now of Annesley Street in Belfast, had already admitted aggravated trespass when he appeared at Ballymena Magistrates Court.
Judge Broderick told Shannon that when deciding his sentence, he had to take into account his extensive criminal record. His previous convictions include armed robbery and drug smuggling.
CONVICTED (2023) | backyard breeder / wildlife persecutor Brian Birch, born 17 September 1993, of Ash Grove, Shirebrook, Mansfield NG20 8QA – kept 17 injured, flea- and worm-riddled dogs in filthy conditions and allowed multiple ferrets to starve to death.
Monstrous animal abuser Brian Birch from Shirebrook, Derbyshire, was allowed to keep one Jack Russell dog
In September 2022 officers from the Shirebrook Safer Neighbourhood Team were called to the home Birch shares with partner Kayleigh Iles, born 19 August 1994, who was also charged originally.
Despite living at the property where 17 neglected dogs had been callously mistreated, Birch’s partner Kayleigh Iles had the charges against her dropped
Officers found 17 dogs of various breeds living in filthy conditions, with faeces and urine covering the garden.
The animals were seized and taken to kennels.
They were found to be riddled with fleas, they had bleeding paws and were suffering with worms.
Police say as well as the dogs, they also seized two rabbits and two malnourished ferrets.
They found the bodies of between five and ten dead ferrets piled on top of one another in the ferret cage.
Fourteen of the dogs have been rehomed, but two had to be put down.
The two rabbits and two ferrets seized were taken by the RSPCA.
The court allowed him to keep one dog
Birch initially denied any wrongdoing.
He eventually pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the welfare of an animal, and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
No evidence was offered for the same charges against Iles and these were dropped at court.
Sentencing | 25-week prison sentence suspended for 24 months; ordered to pay £4,000 Banned from keeping animals for 15 years, except for an unfortunate Jack Russell who the court allowed him to keep.
CONVICTED (2023) | John Alan Langan, born June 1986, of 12 The Hawthorns Great Ayton, Middlesbrough TS9 6BA, Shane Hooton, born c 1992, of Thistle Hill Caravan Park, Thistle Hill, Knaresborough HG5 8LS and Joseph Foster, born 30 December 1987, of 78 Manton Crescent, Worksop S80 2RG and Dean Thomas Adams, born 27 November1995, of 7 Hebron Court, Stokesley, Middlesbrough TS9 5FD – for hare coursing offences.
Clockwise from top left: John Langan, Shane Hooton, Dean Adams, Joe Foster
Appearing in court on 9 October 2023 in relation to hare coursing charges were serial offender John Langan with his latest accomplices Shane Hooton and Joseph Foster. Dean Adams failed to appear in court and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Langan, Hooton and Foster pleaded guilty to the offences of trespass and going equipped to trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs, under Section 63 and Section 64 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
This was in relation to an incident on 23 December 2022 when four men were stopped by Rural Task Force Officer Rich Fussey as they came off private farmland in Leven in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
They were in possession of running dogs without any permissions to be on the land.
John Langan was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months – the court felt the offence was so serious that a custodial sentence could be justified.
He was also given a ten-year Criminal Behaviour Order covering England and Wales with conditions around the control of dogs, not being on private farmland without permission and a complete ban on entering Humberside.
He was also fined £85 costs, £154 victim surcharge, disqualified from driving for 56 days and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid supervised work within the next 12 months.
Shane Hooton was sentenced to a £500 fine, £85 costs and £200 victim surcharge and given a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order covering the same conditions as Langan.
Joseph Foster was sentenced to a £500 fine, £85 costs and £200 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2023) | serial hare courser Liam Doherty, born c 1990, of Ince Road, Thornton, Liverpool L23 4UF – used dogs to hunt wild hares.
Doherty, who in January 2016 was convicted of the same offence* alongside Bootle men James Reid, born 1 October 1983, and Neil Walsh, born c. 1985, was convicted of hunting a wild mammal with dog/s under the Hunting Act 2004
He was prosecuted after officers from the South Rural Task Force were called to land near to the Lancashire/Merseyside border. It followed reports that a man had been seen hare coursing by the landowner in February 223.
Officers from Lancashire Constabulary attended and stopped and searched a 4×4 vehicle in a nearby residential street.
In a statement issued on October 9, 2023, South Rural Police Taskforce officer PC Helen Williams said: “Hare coursing can be extremely distressing for our community as offenders commit cruel acts towards our wildlife. It is a misconception for people to think this is a minor crime in the countryside.
“Those involved in hare coursing trespass on land, damaging crops and property. The measures farmers have to put in place to deter these offenders cost considerable amounts of money which in turn is passed onto food consumers.
“The South Rural Task Force is committed to stamping out wildlife crime in Lancashire and we would like to thank local farmers and landowners for reporting these offences.”
Sentencing | ordered to pay £537 in fines and costs. The vehicle used in the offence was also seized.
In January 2016 Liam Doherty, James Reid and Neil Walsh were all handed Criminal Behaviour Orders after being caught using dogs to poach protected brown hares on Lancashire farmland.
L-R Liam Doherty, James Reid, Neil Walsh
Doherty, at the time living in Crosby and Reid and Walsh, both from Bootle, were caught entering farmland with four dogs with the intent of hunting brown hares.
The 18-month order prohibited the men from entering a large area of West Lancashire with a dog or being in company with anyone with a dog, until June 2017.
James Reid
PC Ivan Leivers said: “These three men have regularly and routinely entered West Lancashire with the express intent of hunting a protected mammal – the brown hare – with their dogs.
“This order will ensure that if they continue to partake in this barbaric activity, they face the very real possibility of being given a custodial sentence.
“The other offenders who come here to carry out coursing should be warned we will apply for these orders wherever and whenever we can.”
CONVICTED | for hare coursing: Hampshire travellers Leonard Pinnick, born 25 December 1986, of 83 Montgomery Road, Bitterne, Southampton SO18 4RX, Shane Jefferies, born c. 1996, of 3 Hornbeam Close, Botley, Southampton SO30 2SZ, Lloyd Jefferies, born 18 March 1988, of Tanhouse Lane, Botley, Southampton SO30 2SZ, Martin Eli Buckland born c. 1983, and Martin Tony Buckland, born 13 December 2003, of Church Farm, Hound Road, Netley Abbey, Southampton SO31 5JS
The five travellers were sentenced for hare coursing offences under sections 63 and 64 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
This is the first time Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary has secured charges and convictions under this particular legislation since it was introduced in April 2022.
On the evening of 18 January, 2023, police received a report that a group of people had driven onto farmland in the Itchen Abbas area of Winchester, damaging crops in the process, before they began hare coursing in a field.
Officers were deployed to the area and located the vehicles – a Mercedes and a Jeep – before the Jeep reversed and collided with a police car.
Once police detained the Jeep’s occupants, the vehicle was searched and officers located three lurcher dogs, five dead hares, bolt croppers and a lamp.
The Mercedes meanwhile left the scene and was followed by police to Southampton where the occupants were detained.
Inside the vehicle were two more lurcher dogs, two dead rabbits, a slingshot and a lamp.
Following enquiries, five people were charged with offences and pleaded guilty in Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 3 August:
Leonard Pinnick pleaded guilty to trespass with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs, and being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs.
Shane Jefferies pleaded guilty to trespass with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs, and being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs.
Lloyd Jefferies pleaded guilty to trespass with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs, being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs, criminal damage, and dangerous driving.
Martin Tony Buckland pleaded guilty to trespass with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs, and being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs.
Martin Eli Buckland pleaded guilty to trespass with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs, being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs, criminal damage, and dangerous driving.
Appearing at the same court on Monday 25 September, 2023, Lloyd Jefferies and Martin Eli Buckland were ordered to pay £550 compensation each to the landowner, covering the full £1,100 worth of damage caused to the crops.
Jefferies was also handed a 12 month driving ban with a requirement to complete an extended retest, a two year ban on owning dogs, a 12 month community order with a requirement to complete 200 hours unpaid work, and was ordered to pay £100 kennelling costs for the seized dogs, £85 court costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
Buckland was subject to the same costs and surcharge, as well as the same driving disqualification and dog ban. He was also handed a 12 month community order with a requirement to complete 50 hours unpaid work.
The vehicles’ passengers were sentenced as follows:
Martin Tony Buckland was handed a 12 month community order with a requirement to complete 40 hours unpaid work, a £40 fine, £100 kennelling costs, £85 court costs, £114 victim surcharge, and banned from owning dogs for two years.
Shane Jefferies was handed a 12 week curfew, a 12 month community order with a requirement to complete 40 hours unpaid work, a £40 fine, £100 kennelling costs, £85 court costs, £114 victim surcharge, and banned from owning dogs for two years.
Leonard Pinnick was handed an 18 month community order with a requirement to complete 60 hours unpaid work and attend a ‘Thinking & Skills Programme’. He was also ordered to pay a £40 fine, £100 kennelling costs, £85 court costs, £114 victim surcharge, and banned from owning dogs for two years.
The kennelling costs were recovered from all the defendants under Section 65 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act which was introduced last year.
Another passenger, a 17-year-old boy, was also arrested by police, and officers continue to work with the Youth Offending Team to reach a suitable outcome for him.
Police Staff Investigator Andrew Williams, from the Country Watch team, said: “Hare coursing is a scourge on our rural communities. It involves the senseless persecution of wildlife, whilst also making life miserable for innocent farmers and landowners, who suffer trespass and damage to their property which accompanies this type of offending.
“The Country Watch team take a very robust stance against hare coursing, and will do everything in our power to respond to reports, assist landowners and target the criminals responsible.
“Last year new legislation was introduced which is bolstering the police’s efforts to target hare coursers, bring them to justice and recover costs from them. I hope rural communities can be reassured that we are making the most of this legislation.
“We are coming into autumn now where we see the bulk of annual hare coursing reports. Please remain vigilant, and report any suspicious people or vehicles on private land to police. If a crime is in progress, dial 999.”
CONVICTED (2023) | Tommy Lee Gray, born 11 July 2004, of 15 Weller Road, Amersham HP6 6LQ and Joseph Abercrombie, born 12 April 2003, of 1 Heartenoak Farm, Heartenoak Road, Hawkhurst, Cranbrook TN18 5EY – for hare coursing.
Tommy Lee Gray (left) and Joseph Abercrombie
Travellers Tommy Lee Gray, offspring of convicted horse abusers James and Julie Cordelia Gray previously of Spindles Farm, and Joseph Abercrombie, a professional boxer, were arrested in Essex by specialist rural engagement officers and subsequently convicted of trespassing with intent to search for, or to pursue, hares with dogs.
Both admitted the offence when they appeared before Basildon magistrates on 13 July 2023.
The court was told they had both travelled to Paglesham near Rochford on 6 January 2023, Gray from Buckinghamshire and Abercrombie from Kent.
They were spotted by members of the public trespassing on fields with two dogs and reported to Essex Police.
Officers from the Essex Police Rural Engagement Team and Rayleigh Local Policing Team attended and the pair were arrested and charged.
Magistrates told them they had travelled a great distance and the offence was ‘planned and deliberate’. They decided against banning either man from driving because it was their first offence and against disqualifying them from owning or keeping dogs because of their family circumstances.
Sgt Ben Felton, from the Rural Engagement Team, said: “Hare coursing causes landowners, farmers and the rural community a large amount of anxiety because of the damage caused to the land by trespassing.
“We won’t tolerate animal cruelty in any form and will seek to prosecute whenever we have evidence of such crimes because we understand the damage, its cost and the fear this cruel crime can cause in our more isolated communities.
“This prosecution is the first of its kind in Essex, and among the first in the country, and we won’t hesitate to use the legislation to prevent and deter people from poaching game in our county.
“The message is getting out that hare coursers are not welcome in Essex.
“During the 2022/23 season we reduced hare coursing incidents across the county by 50% working with the CPS, forces across the eastern region and Kent, with help from the National Police Air Service.
“We encourage anyone who sees hare coursing in action to call 999.”
Sentencing | fined £250 and ordered to pay £105 costs and a £100 victim surcharge.
