Gangs, violence and discarded dead animals: the hidden poaching of illegal rabbits.

On a remote Cambridgeshire farm, half a mile away from his nearest neighbour, Matthew Latta was eating lunch when the peace was broken by the sound of heavy fatigue.

Lata ran to the window to see a convoy of more than a dozen 4x4s heading towards the farm. Its metal doors were cut with an angle grinder and concrete blocks were pushed out of the way to clear the way for the convoy.

The vehicles sped across the farm, tearing up the grain and pulling over the family’s garden fence. Then more than 70 people in military uniforms and balaclavas get out of the vehicle, cheering and playing music.

Dogs went out on a lead and started hunting rabbits.

“They were all standing on their cars with binoculars,” says Lata. “I’d say it’s a 100% perfectly organized course event, with the competitors and the competitors’ dogs. The people attending the course – and watching and playing that sport. It was terrifying.”

Warning: This story contains images of dead animals

Lata and his family are trapped in their house. They called the police but no one came. At the time, his seven-year-old daughter panicked and asked, “Daddy, are these people going to come in?” she asks.

After more than three hours, the blood sport was over and the crowd dispersed. They left behind four cars, one of which was a charred wreck. Earlier that day, the convoy was found to have driven a 20-mile (32 km) stretch of the county, forcing other cars off the road and robbing a gas station.