Mob terror hits British countryside as organised crime gangs invade farms and intimidate owners to stage illegal hare coursing events – dumping  carcasses in the area Godfather-style

A shocking investigation has revealed organized crime gangs are occupying farms and intimidating owners into holding illegal rabbit walking events.

Gangs, often dressed in military fatigues and balaclavas, make their way into farmland to set loose hunters or hounds on wild rabbits; a bloodsport whose prizes can fetch £50,000 and the coveted ‘Super 8 Cup’.

Hare running, in which dogs earn points for both kills and how often they spin and spin their prey during the chase, was banned in the UK in 2005.

But police say the involvement of organized crime gangs in undercover events has increased tenfold in recent years.

Two years ago, children in Awbridge, Hampshire, arrived at school to find the carcasses of 20 rabbits and rabbits dumped outside the building, as well as the decapitated body of a deer.

Seven miles to the north, 50 dead rabbits were strewn near the entrance to Broughton’s village shop. A dead barn owl and kestrel were also tied to the doorknob.

One landowner described how he encountered a masked participant carrying a catapult filled with ball bearings.

At one of the biggest events held last year, Cambridgeshire farmer Mathew Latta watched a dozen 4x4s race across his field after passengers used a grinder to open the iron gates.

Hunting rabbits was banned in the UK in 2005; but police say involvement of organized crime gangs has increased tenfold in recent years

Later, more than 70 people brought out the dogs, began hunting rabbits, and began gambling on the animals they hunted; At the same time, loud party music was playing.

Cambridgeshire Police believe the participants traveled from England and Wales and completed a 20-mile diversionary route to reduce their chances of being caught, forcing other cars off the road and robbing a petrol station along the way.

Mr Latta told the BBC he saw gang members in their cars watching the killings through binoculars.

‘This was a 100 per cent properly organized racing event with competitors and competitive dogs,’ he said. ‘It was pretty scary.’

His frightened seven-year-old daughter kept asking: ‘Will these men come in, Dad?’

The incident lasted about three hours and the criminals left behind four cars, one of which was a burnt wreck. Cambridgeshire Police have since arrested more than 40 people and charged 25; many of them have now been convicted.

During a search of a single address, they discovered a 2ft-high Super 8 Cup engraved with images of dogs and rabbits, as well as the names of previous winners.

In a video obtained by the BBC, a group of eight people drinking in a bar were seen bargaining over the price of the 2025 Super 8 Cup champion. Lucher was eventually sold for £55,000.

Freedom of Information Requests to police show that 9,000 reports of rabbit wandering have been made in the last three years.

Chief Inspector Kevin Lacks-Kelly, head of the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Squad, told the BBC: ‘Some of these young people are making a fortune. You have some of the best organized criminals in the country. “They’re like a little army.”