Four men have been sentenced after they shot at hares from a moving car in North Dorset fields.

The four men, all in their twenties, were handed court orders restricting their activities for five years.

John Frederick Burton, aged 28 and of Basildon, Essex, Tommy Edward Catanach, 25 and of Romford, Essex, William Holmes, 22 and of Milton, Cambridgeshire, and Levie Lee, 20 and of Stondon Massey, Essex, were sentenced at Poole Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, April 19 after entering guilty pleas to a charge of trespassing in pursuit of game. They received fines as well as being ordered to pay court costs and a victim surcharge.

At a further hearing at the same court yesterday (Thursday, July 28) the four defendants were all made the subject of a five-year criminal behaviour order. The order states they must:

• Not be on any private land without prior written permission from the owner or legal representative of the land and to produce any such written permission when asked to do so by a police officer within the county of Dorset.

• Not enter the county of Dorset with a sighthound or be in company of any other person that has a sighthound in the county of Dorset.

• Not enter the county of Dorset with an air rifle or be in company of any other person that has an air rifle in the county of Dorset.

• Not enter the county of Dorset with a slingshot or be in company of any other person that has a slingshot in the county of Dorset

Shortly before 9am on Friday July 30, 2021 Dorset Police received a report of suspected poaching in the Cashmoor area. It was reported that four men in off road vehicles were trespassing on farmland as they chased hares.

It was reported that the men were shooting at the hares from moving vehicles.

Officers attended and, following a search, four men were arrested and a number of items were seized including a vehicle and an air rifle.

Following a detailed investigation by the Rural Crime Team, all four men were charged with an offence under section 30 of the Game Act 1831.

Police Constable Sebastian Haggett, of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team, said: “This kind of illegal activity has a significant impact on our rural communities, with the potential to cause damage to crops, as well as other issues caused by vehicles driving over their land.

“We are committed to doing all we can to protect our rural communities from this kind of behaviour and compiled evidence to secure these orders, which we hope will reduce the chances of these four defendants reoffending in the future."