Wick man whose dog attacked deer becomes first sentenced under new hunting legislation

A man whose dog chased and injured a deer has become the first person in Scotland to be convicted and sentenced under new hunting legislation.

Nickolas Chenier, 56, admitted to using his golden Lurcher for hare coursing on land near a cemetery in Wick in March last year. During the course of this, the dog attacked the deer.

Two witnesses saw the pursuit take place from a field into a car park at Olrig cemetery.

The deer had lost speed due to a broken front left leg and could eventually only run on its knees.

The dog then bit the animal on its leg and neck after taking it to ground. After they formed a huddle to protect the deer, Chenier appeared and confirmed the dog belonged to him.

Asked what he intended to do with the injured deer, he told them: “I’ll deal with it. I have a knife in the van.”

The two witnesses walked away separately but looked back to see Chenier had killed the deer and placed it in his van.

After the incident was reported, officers carried out a search at the 56-year-old’s cottage and found a golden Lurcher in a kennel, which matched the description given by the witnesses.

They also discovered the carcass of a badly injured deer hanging from its hind legs with a tray of blood below it in an outbuilding.

Analysis revealed DNA swabs from the deer carcass found at the accused’s address matched the DNA of the deer hair and bone fragments recovered from the cemetery car park.

Female dog DNA was also found on one of the swabs taken from the deer carcass.

At Wick Sheriff Court, Chenier was fined £750 and banned from owning or having a dog in his control for five years after admitting to an offence under the Hunting With Dogs Act (Scotland) Act, which came into force in 2023.

Iain Batho, who leads on Wildlife and Environmental Crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “COPFS takes offences of hare coursing and any other hunting with dogs offences seriously and action will be taken against individuals where there is sufficient evidence of a crime and where it is in the public interest to do so.

“Hare Coursing is a cruel and illegal act that can have a wide-ranging impact on both wildlife and rural communities. Whilst it was not Nickolas Chenier’s intention for his dog to attack and injure a deer that day, this incident shows that using dogs to hunt wildlife can have additional serious and unforeseen consequences.

“I welcome this first conviction under the Hunting with Dogs Act (Scotland) Act 2023 and, in particular, the message sent out about the Court’s powers under that legislation to ban offenders from owning or having dogs for a period of time

“Our specialist wildlife prosecutors will continue to work to ensure those committing offences by hunting with dogs are brought to justice.

“I would encourage anyone who may have information on such criminality to contact the police.”