On 3rd April 2019 the Bishop of St Albans, Rt Revd Alan Smith, received written answers to three questions on prosecutions for hare coursing.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many
successful prosecutions for hare coursing there were in the UK in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, (3) 2015, (4) 2016, (5) 2017, and (6) 2018.
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many prosecutions for hare coursing were brought to trial which did not lead to a guilty verdict in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, (3) 2015, (4) 2016, (5) 2017, and (6) 2018.
Lord Keen of Elie: The Ministry of Justice has published data on the number of people prosecuted and convicted in England and Wales up to December 2017 for the following hare coursing offences:
- Participating in a hare coursing event
- Attending a hare coursing event
- Knowingly facilitating a hare coursing event
- Permitting land to be used for the purpose of a hare coursing event
- Permitting etc a dog to participate in a hare coursing event
Figures can be found in the table below, if an offence does not appear in the table, it means there were no prosecutions or convictions for it in the period given. Data for 2018 will be published in May 2019.
Table 1. Number of prosecutions and convictions for hare coursing offences in England and Wales, 2013-2017.
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | |
| Attending a hare coursing event | |||||
| Prosecuted | 11 | 3 | – | – | – |
| Convicted | 8 | – | – | – | – |
| Participating in a hare coursing event | |||||
| Prosecuted | 12 | – | 8 | 6 | 1 |
| Convicted | 4 | – | 4 | – | – |
via Parliament.uk
The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many police reports were made for hare coursing in England and Wales in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, (3) 2015, (4) 2016, (5) 2017, and (6) 2018.
Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Home Office does not hold the information requested.
It is an operational matter for the police.
