The smug picture which snared a 'cruel' hunter from Greater Manchester

A 'cruel' hunter from Greater Manchester has been sentenced after a mobile phone picture showed him proudly posing with a captured hare.

Lewis Sheridan 37, was arrested for illegally hare coursing on farmland in Lincolnshire, more than 150 miles from his home in Bolton, after an audacious escape plan was foiled.

Police were alerted just before 10am on Friday, October 13 last year after Sheridan and co-defendant George Miller, 32, were seen walking across the arable land near Spalding, Lincs, with two dogs.

The pair were using the hounds, a beige long dog and a black long dog, to chase and catch hares. Police said they had arrived earlier that day in a silver Skoda which left near to a farm in the area, close to the villages of Twenty and West Pinchbeck.

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They had tried to hide it behind some foliage but were spotted and when they returned to the vehicle were challenged by a local farmer, who tried to block them in with some of his farm machinery.

In a bid to escape, the car waas driven 'at speed' over fields and onto the A151, Lincolnshire Police said. However they were arrested less an hour later, when their car was spotted by patrolling officers and pulled over.

The car was seized as were the dogs and 'other property believed to be used in the commission of their illegal activities', including three thermal cameras, a video camera and four mobile phones.

Officers were able to use information from the devices to prove the pair had been illegally hunting, and pinpoint the location. For example, they were able to match the background on pictures taken by the pair, one of which was taken on the day of their