THREE men have been found guilty of hunting with dogs after being caught in a field near Basingstoke.

In the first conviction for the offence in Hampshire, John Cole, 65, John Giles, 21, and Frederick Stevens, 42, were convicted at Basingstoke Magistrates Court and fined.

In an unusual step, the magistrates also ordered the men to give up their lurcher dogs, in an attempt to prevent them re-offending.

The offence occurred on Monday, April 26, last year when a member of the public reported seeing a group of men using dogs to hunt and catch a hare on private land off Huish Lane, between Old Basing and Tunworth.

When police officers arrived at the scene, the men were found in the field with four lurcher dogs.

They told rural beat officer PC Andy Reid they were simply walking their dogs, but the officer knew they did not have permission to be on the land. Further investigation revealed a recently-killed hare in the field, with injuries that were consistent with a dog bite.

Cole, Giles and Stevens, all of Winchester Road in Ash, were each fined £200 and ordered to pay £100 towards court costs.

PC Reid (right) said hare-coursing has been a major problem in the Basingstoke area where more than 30 men were reported for poaching-related incidents in 2008.

He said: “Farmers and gamekeepers have previously been intimidated when challenging the people involved with this type of offence.”

He said all sorts of damage can be done to the land and wildlife as a result, but he is receiving less reports than previously as a result of hard work by rural beat officers.

He added: “We hope this conviction will send out a message to any offenders who are thinking of coming to this area to commit illegal coursing and poaching – that not only do they face being fined, but they also face losing their dogs and even their vehicles.”

Hare coursing involves participants who spread across a field and disturb a hare before dogs are released. Participants bet on which dog will catch the hare and, in some cases, large sums of money can be involved.

Commenting on the convictions, Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Mark Gammon said: “The order for forfeiture of the dogs in particular was significant as it removes the dogs from the offenders, thus preventing them committing such offences again. It is an order that is only rarely granted by a court.”

This was the first time that the CPS in Hampshire has pursued a prosecution under the Hunting Act – which was passed in 2004 and outlawed hunting with dogs in England and Wales.