Jordan Attey, 27, and Jordan Jones, 24, were filmed by PCSO Andrew Cusick in Heighington in April last year after he noticed a silver Subaru parked beside a farmer’s gateway.
When he put a drone in the air, he spotted Attey and Jones walking across farmland 1.5km away – where Attey proceeded to release a dog to chase a deer that broke cover.
As they returned to their car they were questioned by PCSO Cusick where they claimed they were “definitely not” engaging in poaching and were simply walking their dogs.
Footage released by the police shows one of the pair saying that they “didn’t think it was against the law to go walk your dogs” as he vehemently denied engaging in poaching.
The pair were later 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 drone footage they 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 and Jones, of Bishop Middleham, was fined £120 and ordered to pay more than £300 in costs.
Recommended:
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.”
He 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.”
