Joint bid across North to tackle cross-border poachers

Nine forces are involved in what is being described as one of the biggest rural crime crackdowns of its kind in the UK.

A region-wide Community Protection Notice (CPN) will see the nine forces work as one to prosecute poachers and rural offenders.

The move will hand police and the courts significantly greater powers to combat and prosecute serial cross-border criminals who breach their CPN conditions by repeatedly targeting rural victims.

Northumbria Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Debbie Ford, who is also the national policing lead for Rural and Wildlife Crime, said: “This is a significant and innovative move that will help us combat rural crime not only in Northumbria but across the North of England.

“It is one of the biggest collective crackdowns of its kind in the UK and should send a clear message to those who target our most remote communities – rural crime will not be tolerated.

“Tackling and preventing rural crime is a priority for the force and this latest initiative builds on the extensive work already underway with our partners.

“The initiative will see a collaboration between forces to share intelligence and jointly prosecute poachers and offenders who travel across borders to attempt to disguise their criminality.

“By working together, we can continue to protect our communities and bring effective justice against perpetrators.”

The innovative new scheme, supported by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), means offenders who commit offences across multiple counties can be prosecuted jointly by the respective forces.

Before this, if someone committed an offence in one force area and then travelled to a different county to carry out a second offence, both cases would have been heard in isolation.

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As well as Northumbria Police, forces in Cleveland, Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Lancashire are involved.

William Maughan, the National Farmers’ Union chair for North Riding and Durham, said: “It is very encouraging to see police forces across our region working together to make things more difficult for those intent on committing wildlife crime – especially as our most recent rural crime survey highlighted the significant impact of crimes such as poaching and hare coursing on farmers across the region.

Farmer William Maughan, NFU county chair for North Yorkshire and Durham

“In total 51 per cent of respondents said they were subjected to regular farm invasions. For years, criminals have taken advantage of cross-border differences between police forces, so having consistent measures in place across nine force areas is a huge step forward.

“Hopefully the farming community and the region’s much-loved wildlife will reap the rewards of this hard-fought drive to clamp down on rural crime.”

The scheme has also been welcomed by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and the National Gamekeepers' Organisation.

CLA Rural Adviser, Libby Bateman said: “It is encouraging to see police forces across the North of England working together on this initiative.

“Criminals are transient, often moving across large distances to seek-out areas of lower resistance. These new CPNs continue to apply to individuals as they traverse force boundaries, meaning the risk of further sanctions and ultimately a criminal conviction also travels with them.”