Question reference: S6W-05714
- Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 17 January 2022
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Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 26 January 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review sentences given to people found guilty of hare coursing under the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002.
Answer
The Animals and Wildlife, Penalties, Powers and Protections (Scotland) Act 2020 recently introduced higher penalties for a range of wildlife crime offences including offences related to hare coursing. The Act increased the maximum penalty for killing or injuring hares in their close season under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and the maximum penalty for hunting a hare with a dog under the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, from six months imprisonment and/or a £5,000 fine to five years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The new maximum penalties are available for offences committed after 30 November 2020.
With the sentencing regime having recently been updated and strengthened, we have no plans to review the sentences given to people found guilty of hare coursing under the Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002.