The two Gainsborough men who pleaded guilty to badger baiting have been banned from keeping dogs for five years. They were also given 18 weeks in jail suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay £300 costs and a £115 victim surcharge. A third man who denies the offences will be tried in December. You can read the full story on the Gainsborough Standard here.

Police attended the scene after the men were spotted digging on a badger sett by a gamekeeper. One of those convicted told police: “I don’t get paid for doing it, but do it as a sport and it is something I enjoy.” This is the worrying problem at the heart of badger baiting. It is not an activity that has any practical or financial purpose but is undertaken simply to satisfy the sadistic lusts of the perpetrators. Does simply punishing these individuals have any effect or should we be looking at an on-going programme of treatment and monitoring as well?