Three teenagers charged over ‘abhorrent’ attacks on sheep

THREE teenagers from Gosport have been charged over a pair of ‘abhorrent' attacks which allegedly saw sheep pelted with stones.

Animals at Alver Valley Country Park, in Gosport, were injured in the two incidents on Monday, April 29 and Wednesday, May 1.

Two boys, aged 13 and 14, and a girl, 15 – all from Gosport – are due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on

Monday, November 25.

The trio, alongside a 14-year-boy from Holbury, New Forest, face charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Two other 14-year-old boys arrested in connection with the incidents have been released with no further action.

A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said the charges follow a ‘complex’ probe by the force’s Country Watch team, who prevent, detect and disrupt rural and wildlife crime.

The attacks were condemned earlier this year as the leader of Gosport Borough Council, councillor Mark Hook, branded the yobs responsible ‘abhorrent morons’. He told The News: ‘We don’t want these idiots attacking the very thing we are trying to protect.’