THREE-TIMES champion jumps trainer Peter Easterby was found guilty yesterday of permitting land to be used for hare coursing.

The 79-year-old former racehorse trainer was also convicted of attending a hare coursing event in March 2007.

He was convicted along with Major John Shaw, 56, who faced the same charges.

Both denied the charges, claiming they were unaware what was taking place on their land in North Yorkshire was illegal.

Shaw had been advised by a leading barrister that the event was legal – however, District Judge Christina Harrison said the advice was wrong and ignorance was no defence.

Both men were given an absolute discharge following the conviction and no costs were awarded.

During their trial, Scarborough magistrates heard how hare-coursing events were held over two days with hundreds attending.

A policeman even turned up on the farmland owned by Shaw but thought everything was legal. However, he told the court he “regretted” not staying longer to find out more.

The judge said: ‘‘Everybody in this case has had extreme difficulty trying to wrestle what exactly Parliament meant.

“I have got two gentlemen here who have never been in trouble before and, as far as I can see, took every step to ensure what they were doing was lawful.

“The police officer went off in his own mind quite happy it was legal. I would have thought police officers in North Yorkshire must have been briefed, and even if he wasn’t fully up to date with the position, there must have been more senior officers who would be.’’ The court heard beaters waving flags drove the hares past a tent where a man was holding on to two muzzled greyhounds.

As the hares passed, he let the dogs go. They chased the animals, witnessed by spectators lining the field creating an “arena”.

Yorkshire Greyhound Field Trialling Club, which organised the event, had put up a fence to stop the dogs and allow the hares to escape.

Although the events purported to be driving hares to guns for legal shooting, the court heard the only shots fired were into the air.

Matthew Donkin, prosecuting, said the whole event was nearly “hare coursing under another guise”.

A spokeswoman for the International Fund For Animal Welfare said: “These convictions should serve as a strong warning to anybody intending to take part in similar activities in the future – they will be prosecuted.’’ Shaw, of Welburn, Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, said: “Our representatives have spent 700 hours of Parliamentary time discussing this shoddy, spiteful Bill.”

Easterby, of Great Habton, North Yorkshire, said he was relieved the case had concluded, but said: “We predicted this.”