Professional footballer, Kiarn Harrat, was one of the three men convicted and fined for poaching offences on a farm in East Yorkshire.

The player is currently on loan to Bradford City from Huddersfield Town, and was sentenced at Beverley Magistrates' Court, last week, under the Game Act. Humberside Police said the 20-year-old was caught trespassing on private land near Wressle, Howden, during the daytime on April 4, this year.

Harratt was pulled over by rural officers after reports of hare coursing. Also travelling in the car were Billy Haigh (20) and 18-year-old Codie Colin Smith, both from Barnsley. The player was fined £830, plus £233 costs, after the bench found him guilty of daytime poaching under Section 30 of the Game Act 1831. The trio were originally charged, but found not guilty of hunting with dogs, their solicitor said on Tuesday.

Read more: Six charged with poaching offences in the North East

Rural Task Force Sergeant, Kevin Jones, said: “This conviction shows that the Rural Task Force will deal strongly with those offenders that visit our Force area to commit hare coursing offences. Along with the criminal offences, the offenders are dealt with via the local authority’s antisocial behaviour team.

“I would like to thank the members of the public and landowners who witnessed this incident and who reported it and support our investigation.

"We will not tolerate the barbaric act of hare coursing, not only causing unimaginable suffering to our wildlife but also causing issues for local landowners who are often the subject of antisocial behaviour and damage to their land and property."