Fifty dead hares were dumped outside a village shop in a bizarre incident that left a Hampshire community shocked and bewildered. The grisly scene, discovered on the morning of March 15, 2024, at the Broughton Community Shop in the small village of Broughton, has led to a criminal trial now unfolding at Southampton Magistrates’ Court.
A ‘Horror Movie Scene’
The court has heard that at 3.23am, a silver Suzuki Grand Vitara pulled up outside the volunteer-run shop. Two men, their faces covered by balaclavas, got out and began discarding the bodies of around 50 hares across the forecourt, allegedly “strewn about deliberately to maximise their coverage.” A third man remained at the wheel.
Prosecutor Adam Cooper described what happened next as a “horror movie scene.” According to his account to the court, CCTV footage showed one of the men tearing a hare in half, its blood dripping onto the ground, before smearing the gore across the shop’s windows and storefront. The men then allegedly retrieved a dead barn owl and a kestrel from the car, wiped them in the blood, and “stuffed” them under the door handles.
The Evidence Against the Accused
The prosecution alleges that one of the two men who carried out the act is James Kempster, a 39-year-old from Totton, Southampton. He faces two charges under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for possessing the dead birds, and one charge of criminal damage for allegedly causing an estimated £5,000 of damage to the shop front.
According to the court, the case against Kempster is built on several strands of evidence. Prosecutor Cooper stated that DNA discovered on the dead birds was matched to Kempster. His mobile phone location data allegedly placed him at the scene, and his clothing was also identified. Furthermore, the court heard he was linked to the car used in the incident, a silver Suzuki Grand Vitara which was later found burned out in a country lane.
The two birds, a kestrel and a barn owl, are species afforded special protection as Schedule 1 birds under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Examinations by investigators from Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s Country Watch Team and Criminal Investigation Department revealed both had been shot with a firearm.
Legal Context and Community Fears
While the motive remains officially unknown, the incident is not isolated. It forms part of a troubling pattern in the area. Just weeks before, in February 2024, approximately 27 dead rabbits were found outside Awbridge Primary School, seven miles away. There have been other reports of dumped animal corpses, with villagers and police suspecting the involvement of illegal hare coursers.
Hare coursing, where dogs are used to chase and kill hares, has been banned in England and Wales since 2004 but continues illegally. Gangs are believed to livestream the events for gambling purposes. Locals and investigators suggest such macabre displays are intended as intimidation—a message that the perpetrators “can do what we want and you can’t catch us.” One resident drew a direct line, suggesting the Awbridge incident occurred after a farmer confronted hare coursers.
The impact on the community has been profound. Staff at the community shop, run mainly by volunteers, were left “distraught” and “shocked.” Locals have described feeling “terrified” and “traumatised” by the act, which caused what the police termed “widespread revulsion and condemnation.”
James Kempster, of Marchwood Road and Bury Brickfield Park in Totton, was arrested on March 28, 2024, and later charged in August. He appeared at Southampton Magistrates’ Court, pleaded not guilty to all charges on September 23, 2024, and has been released on bail. A condition of his bail is that he must not enter the village of Broughton. His trial is scheduled for May 7, 2025.
Prosecutor Cooper told the court that to secure a conviction, the prosecution does not need to prove a motive. “To find him guilty, we do not need to know why, and it may be that we do not get to understand why,” he said. The trial continues.
