PHILLIP WILSON

A gang of hare coursers was caught after mobile phone messages and footage were recovered.

The three Aberdeenshire men had travelled to Brechin to take part in the illegal hunting.

They had been using dogs to hunt the wild animals in fields but the authorities were alerted when local people realised what they were doing.

Peter Anderson, Philip Starr and Phillip Wilson, all from Macduff, had previously pled guilty to wildlife offences at Forfar Sheriff Court and have now been sentenced.

The court heard that on Sunday, February 2, 2020, in the afternoon, a local resident saw people on fields close to Balrownie, Brechin, with lurcher-type dogs.

After informing the farm owners, they found a silver Ford automobile and took note of its registration number.

They noticed dogs and guys in one of the fields shortly after.

One of the males was filming on a cell phone while two dogs chased a rabbit.

The farmers called the police, followed the car from a distance, and gave them the specifics of the vehicle's movements over the phone.

On suspicion of hare coursing, officers pulled over the vehicle on the A92 Stonehaven road and took the guys into custody.

Following a search of the car, the dogs, dog leads, and cell phone in the back were all taken.

It was Starr's phone that was sent for examination.

It was discovered to have a voice-messaging WhatsApp group setting organizing a get-together to go hare coursing.

Additionally, on February 2, Starr recorded a video showing one of the dogs holding a dead hare.

The Protection of Wild Animals (Scotland) Act outlawed hare coursing.

Starr, 41, and Anderson, 51, entered guilty pleas to violations of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, which addresses wild hare conservation, and the Act.

They were prohibited from owning dogs for two years and issued community payback orders that required them to perform 190 hours of unpaid labour.

Wilson, 25, received the same punishment for the same violations along with a one-year supervision period.

"I welcome the sentence of these three men and the message it should send to anyone involved in hare coursing," Fiona Caldwell, Head of the Crown's Wildlife and Environmental Crime Unit, said following the sentencing.

"Hare coursing is an act of cruelty that is completely prohibited." "The Crown will keep trying to make sure that anyone who uses dogs to hunt hares is held accountable