Two poachers were handed hefty fines after they admitted hunting with dogs in Wiltshire.

Hampshire pair Luke Ockendon, 24, and Edward Goddard, 52, were caught poaching on farmland in Collingbourne Ducis, on Salisbury Plain, in December 2019.

Appearing before Swindon Magistrates’ Court last month, Goddard, of Winchester Street, Botley, and Ockendon, of Manor Park Drive, Yateley, pleaded guilty to hunting a wild animal with a dog on December 20, 2019, and entering farmland in a Subaru Forester 4x4 that was fitted with a hunting lamp.

The magistrates noted that both had previous convictions for like offences and attempted to evade arrest.

Ockendon was fined £800 and ordered to pay £145 in costs and surcharge. Goddard was fined £1,400 and must pay £205 in costs and surcharge. The hunting lamp was forfeit.