Two South Wales men have been sentenced to do unpaid work for their local community after they admitted taking part in illegal hare coursing near Cheltenham.

Three other men accused of being part of a group which went equipped for hare coursing with the guilty pair have denied involvement and are to stand trial at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court next spring.

Thomas Hearne, 20, of Blaenant Road, Nantyglo and William Bridges, 18, of Stone Houses, Blaina, Abertillery, both pleaded guilty at a hearing last week to being equipped for pursuing or searching for hares at Cheltenham on 27th January this year.

The charge that they admitted states that they were in possession of a car, dogs, a lamp and slingshot in order to pursue hares in contravention of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2023.

Hearne and Bridges were each sentenced to a one year community order with requirement to do sixty hours of unpaid work. The orders will be supervised by Newport Magistrates Court. They were also ordered to pay surcharges of £114 each.

The other three defendants - Billy Smith, 21, of Starcroft Lane, Minsterworth, nr Gloucester; Jayden Lewis, 21, of Pantyffn Road, Penyard, Merthyr Tydfil, and Tom Regan, 24, of Gwalia Terrace, Blaina, all pleaded not guilty to the same charge.

They were bailed pending a case management hearing on November 5th followed by a trial, estimated to take four and a half hours, on March 15th 2027.