Gangs stream hare coursing on dark web
Date of alert:
Saturday, 13 August 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Wiltshire Police
ILLEGAL hare coursing in the shadow of Stonehenge is being live-streamed on the dark web for gamblers to bet on.
The blood sport - banned since 2004 - is run by organised gangs on Salisbury Plain and is attracting viewers and heavy betting from as far away as China, according to Philip Wilkinson, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire. Hare coursing involves setting greyhounds and other sighthounds loose to catch hares.
Brown hares are widespread across the UK but numbers are declining and are now estimated at less than half a million in England.
Salisbury Plain's flat, open terrain and an abundance of hares makes it a popular location.
Mr Wilkinson said: "Hare coursing, which happens a lot here, is normally done by serious organised crime gangs and they bet tens of thousands of pounds at a time.
"I am told that you can even watch hare coursing being live streamed into China and people there bet huge amounts on it as it is happening... I have been told this by the National Crime Agency."
