Poachers face large fine for North Yorkshire nighttime offences

Two poachers have been hit with fines of more than £1,000, after being caught in North Yorkshire.

On Tuesday 6 February 2024, North Yorkshire Police received a report of a vehicle being driven suspiciously around Whashton, near Richmond.

Police officers were deployed to the area straight away, and just before midnight they located a Nissan X-Trail parked up next to a field. A short time later, two men approached them, carrying large black lamps, and with lurcher-type dogs on slip leads.

They were searched, and their lamps and vehicle seized.

The two men – Daniel Luke Dimmock, 34, from Castleford, and Kian Harratt, 22, from Pontefract – were both later charged with entering land as a trespasser at night with poaching equipment.

They were found guilty at Harrogate Magistrates Court on 19 December 2024. They were fined £1,153 each, and ordered to pay hundreds of pounds more in costs and surcharges.

Sergeant David Lund, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Task Force, said: “Poaching is a serious crime that brings misery to rural communities.

“As this case shows, if you travel to North Yorkshire intent on poaching, we’ll be here to stop you, and put you before the courts.

“To help us do that, we can count on the continued support of our rural communities, so I encourage anyone who sees any suspicious activity to report it. Your information might be just what we need to stop rural criminals in their tracks. Make a report via our website, or dial 101, press 1 and pass information to our force control room. If you see a crime being committed, please dial 999.”