Sponsored by
Pair guilty of hare coursing charges
TWO land owners have been found guilty of hare coursing following a two-day trial during which the effectiveness of the Hunting Act was questioned.
Former racehorse trainer Peter Easterby, 79, and Major John Shaw, 56, were convicted at Scarborough Magistrates' Court of attending and allowing their land to be used for hare coursing events in March 2007.
During the trial the court heard and saw video evidence from two animal welfare activists who secretly filmed footage during dog trials at land belonging to Easterby and Shaw.
The events were organised by the North Yorkshire Greyhound Field Trialing Club, whose chairman told the court he had sought legal advice to ensure the club's activities were within the law.
The court also heard the ways in which the events differed to pre hunting ban hare coursing, in particular that the dogs were muzzled throughout the event.
However, after deliberating the definitions given in the Hunting Act, District Judge Christina Harrison deemed the activities on the days in question to be hare coursing.
She said: "There is no doubt that everyone in this case has had extreme difficulty in wrestling what parliament meant by the act.
"I have two gentlemen here who have never been in trouble with the courts and who took every step to ensure what they were doing was legal – and yet they find themselves in this position.
"I am also extremely concerned that a police officer attended on the first day and that Major Shaw explained to him what was going on before the police officer went off happy in his own mind with what was happening. One wonders whether Major Shaw and Mr Easterby would have found themselves in this position if the police officer acted on that first day.
"If he had said to Major Shaw he was concerned about the legalities Mr Shaw would have stopped the event and I believe the same of Mr Easterby."
Read the full story in Thursday's Evening News
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Scarborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: North east
