Force drone catches poachers in act

When PCSO Andrew Cusick was on patrol in Heighington last April he spotted a silver Subaru parked in a farmer’s gateway that didn’t seem quite right.

Trusting his instincts, PCSO Cusick put up the force drone and captured suspects Jordan Attey and Jordan Jones walking across the farmland with dogs 1.5km away.

As he was recording, Attey was seen releasing one of the dogs which then chased one of the deer that had broken cover from the rest that were hiding.

When the suspects failed to capture the deer, they returned to their car where PCSO Cusick was waiting. Despite claiming they had only been walking their dogs, they were reported for poaching offences and summonsed to court.

Attey, 27 and Jones, 24, were charged with a single count of entering land without consent to pursue deer with the intention of either taking, injuring or killing them.

They both pleaded not guilty at court but thanks to PCSO Cusick’s overwhelming drone evidence, were found guilty following a trial at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court last week.

Attey, of Trimdon Grange was fined £300 as well as being ordered to pay more than £400 in costs.

Meanwhile Jones, of Bishop Middleham, was fined £120 and ordered to pay more than £300 in costs.

PCSO Cusick said: “Poaching causes significant harm in terms of both the cruelty to the animals but also to the financial harm to the farmers whose livelihoods are threatened by this criminal activity.

“Using drones is just one of the tools we use to catch these types of criminals who wrongly think they won’t be caught in rural areas.”

Two of the force’s drones have been funded by the PCC, under the force’s Rurali initiative, with more than £20,000 invested in the equipment.

PCSO Cusick added: “We will continue to so everything in our power to protect our rural communities under Rurali – the force’s initiative to work with residents in rural areas to tackle issues that specifically affect them.”