On the afternoon of Saturday 23 January 2021, a vigilant member of the public called police to report that poachers were chasing hares with a dog in a field near Chapel Haddlesey, Selby.
Our officers attended immediately. The suspects made off from the area in this Honda CR-V, and in the process drove through a red light. Officers followed them, and stopped them in South Milford, where they were both arrested, and their dog and car seized.
They were charged, and both appeared at Harrogate Magistrates Court today.
Thomas Agar McDonald, 33, from Stokesley, and John Alan Langan, 35, from Great Ayton, both pleaded guilty to hunting a wild mammal with dogs. McDonald also admitted an offence of failing to comply with a road traffic sign.
