Seven men have been sentenced for entering land as trespassers with poaching equipment.

William Loveridge, 23, John-Henry Loveridge, 21, Levi Loveridge, 23 and Michael Loveridge, 31, all of Milton Close, Horton, Slough, pleaded guilty to the offence, which took place in Britwell Salome, near Watlington.

READ MORE: Pedestrian left with serious injuries after crash on major road

Tommy Giles, 18, of Mill Place, Datchet, Alfie Chambers, 22, of Molesley Close, Hersham and Johnny Inman, 20, of Swallow Park, Surbiton, Surrey, also pleaded guilty to the offence.

William Loveridge, John-Henry Loveridge and Alfie Chambers were given £250 fines, ordered to pay £200 in costs and surcharges of £34.

Giles, Inman, Michael Loveridge and Levi Loveridge were also ordered to pay £200 in costs and £34 in surcharges but were only fined £150.

On January 7, 2022, officers were called to two 4x4 vehicles driving across fields in Britwell Salome shining lamps.

Officers attended and arrested the individuals before recovering the vehicles the following day.

The vehicles were searched and ball bearings, a hunting lamp and a lock knife were recovered, which is evidence of poaching.

PC Ryan Dollery, of the Rural Crime Taskforce, said: “This was a result of great teamwork between response officers and the Rural Crime Taskforce which has ended in the sentencing of seven offenders.

“I hope this demonstrates that Thames Valley Police will work hard to bring rural crime offenders to justice.”

 

Read more from this author

This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1