Two suspected hare coursers have claimed in court they were arrested in a case of mistaken identity while out jogging near a Reading farm.

Prosecutors told how a police helicopter was called to the scene to pursue suspected hare coursers during the incident. 

Adam Yar Khan, prosecuting, said: “Hare coursing was occurring in a farmer’s field. Over £1,000 of damage was caused to his crops.

“Coming out of a silver Subaru, two persons are seen and are pursued. They bear an uncanny resemblance to the same persons who the police then eventually arrest.”

The two men arrested were Joseph Wenman and Billy Cole, who appeared before magistrates on Wednesday, May 22, charged with trespassing with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs.

They had allegedly entered Ivol Barn Farm near Reading, Berkshire, and searched for hares using two dogs. 

It was said they had damaged a field and crops belonging to Oliver Bullock during the incident on October 23.

They were also accused of having the silver Subaru car with the intention to use it in connection with the hare coursing.

Wenman, 37 and of Primrose View, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, and Cole, 40 and of Hawthorne Crescent, Camberley in Surrey, both said the case was one of mistaken identity.

They denied one count of trespass with intent to search for or to pursue hares with dogs, one count of being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with dogs and one count of criminal damage.

Simon Hammudi, defending, said: “They are saying the car is not their car. The car is nothing to do with them, the dog is nothing to do with them.

“They were running because they were there, they live nearby and they were running.”

Both defendants were released on unconditional bail ahead of a trial at Reading Magistrates Court on October 7.