Prolific hare courser from Arbroath jailed for latest offences

COURT: James Mcphee previously pled guilty to the crimes conducted on Angus farmland

A prolific hare courser has been jailed for his latest offences on Angus farmland.

James Mcphee had previously been warned by a sheriff that the crimes, which the 51-year-old claimed were done “for the pot”, could cost him his car, his dog and his freedom.

Forfar Sheriff Court heard Mcphee had given away the lurcher-type dog he was hunting with in fields near the Angus town last year.

The incidents resulted in his 11th and 12th convictions for the cruel pursuit, which was outlawed a number of years ago.

Jailing car dealer Mcphee for 195 days, Sheriff Gregor Murray told him: “There can be no alternative to a sentence of imprisonment.”

Mcphee, of Bloomfield Crescent, Arbroath, previously pled guilty to charges of hunting a brown hare with a dog at Carrot Farm on April 28 last year, and at Ingliston Farm on May 12.

The court earlier heard that as a member of the Travelling community, Mcphee had been in the habit of hare coursing for food, resulting in a number of previous convictions.

Defence solicitor Nick Markowski said that in the first offence the accused had been seen with his daughters in a field, while the other matter involved two dogs and several men in what the court was told was a “classic hare coursing” scenario.

Mr Markowski said Mcphee’s dog, Gip, had now been given to a friend and had recently had pups.

“His record of 35 convictions over the past 20 years is reasonably significant, but it has slowed down and his last contravention of the Wild Mammals Act was in 2009,” the lawyer said.

“He accepts he has a record for hare coursing from when he was a younger man and he is under no illusions that what is uppermost in the court’s mind is prison.

“He doesn’t have a dog, that car was sold for very little and he is apologetic to the court,” said Mr Markowski.

Sheriff Murray told Mcphee there were “several aspects of considerable concern” in the case, including his role in driving others to participate in coursing and giving away the dog, which he said could often be worth thousands of pounds in such crimes.

“What occurred was obviously hare coursing and these are your 11th and 12th convictions so there can be no alternative to a sentence of imprisonment,” said the sheriff.

gbrown@thecourier.co.uk

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What occurred was obviously hare coursing and these are your 11th and 12th convictions so there can be no alternative to a sentence of imprisonment

James Mcphee, 51, is a member of the Travelling community and had engaged in the outlawed practice for food.