A man jailed for hare coursing has been allowed to walk free after appeal court judges quashed his sentence.
Mark Reid was locked up for four months after a court heard how he and his son had unleashed their lurchers on wild hares at a Perthshire estate.
A trial at Perth Sheriff Court in February heard how the pair had watched their dogs tear the animals apart.
It was 45-year-old Reid’s third conviction for wildlife crime. He was also banned from keeping dogs for six years.
Agents for Reid, of Teviotdale Avenue, Dundee, launched a legal challenge against his jail sentence at the Sheriff Appeal Court in Edinburgh.
They argued Sheriff Lindsay Foulis had wrongly jailed Reid after taking the view he was unable to pay a fine. Solicitor Ann Ogg said the jail term was “excessive” and that her client was in a position to pay a substantial sum.
She also said Reid — who was out on bail pending the appeal — had paid court fines for previous offences without any difficulty.
Miss Ogg told the court that Reid was not fit to perform unpaid work because of problems with his back.
In his findings, appeal court sheriff Sean Murphy QC accepted that Reid should not have been jailed.
He said: “This court considers that the sheriff did not appropriately impose a period of custody when a fine could have been levied against the appellant (Reid).
“The sheriff’s concerns of his ability to pay do not seem to be supported.”
Sheriff Murphy quashed Reid’s prison sentence and fined him £1,500 instead.
Evidence at the original trial came from a member of the public, who had contacted police and passed on video footage of the crime.
A policeman who gave evidence also saw Reid and his 21-year-old John Stewart running away from the scene, with hare carcasses found nearby.
Reid and Stewart were found guilty of deliberately hunting brown hares with three dogs at West Cultmalundie Farm, Tibbermore.
Stewart was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid community work and banned from keeping dogs for two years.
Defence agent Douglas Williams said that Reid “comes from a background where this activity has, to an extent, been normalised”.
He added that Reid went to Ireland annually to take part in hare coursing, where it is not illegal.
Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told Reid: “The whole tenor of the report is indicative of someone who quite frankly doesn’t consider they have done anything wrong and has no intention of altering his ways.”
