21 04 2012

In the Dock: CPS tackles rural crime

 

RECENT years have seen a rise in property crime across the countryside and as a predominantly rural county, Gloucestershire is no exception.

Working with our partners, the CPS is determined to tackle the problem.

Thefts from farms and other remote locations are on the increase, with thieves targeting high value agricultural machinery, metal, diesel fuel and livestock. A recent insurance company survey revealed that quad bikes topped the list of items targeted by rural criminals in Gloucestershire and came second only to power tools in a national "top ten" of stolen goods.

Thieves stand to make a lot of money out of this type of crime. Recent examples include a tractor worth £35,000 stolen from a farm at Temple Guiting, near Cheltenham, in February and a tractor worth £20,000 taken from a farm at Sherbourne, near Northleach, last summer and finally found in North Cyprus.

Livestock rustling is a growing problem across the country, with one insurer estimating that cases of stolen animals has more than doubled over the last two years.

In August last year, thieves rustled thirty ewes and their lambs from a field near Bagstone in South Gloucestershire.

Police said the thieves had lifted the gate off its hinges, and urged farmers to padlock field gates, spot-weld washers to the gate pins, graze stock away from roads if possible and use ear tags or other markings to make animals more easily identifiable.

The criminals do not have everything their own way however. On March 7 this year, Nigel Jackson of North Park Farm, Cowley near Cheltenham, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods and possessing stolen property at Gloucester Crown Court.

Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Derek Ryder told the court how police had found a £24,000 tractor stolen from a farm in Berkshire, and a 4x4 land vehicle taken from a farm near Bath hidden in Jackson's barn.

Jackson told police he had bought them for cash from a man called Larry.

On April 4 Jackson was sentenced to 39 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months, 150 hours unpaid work and put under curfew not to leave his farm between 10pm and 6am for 16 weeks.

The CPS is also currently seeking to apply for a confiscation order against him under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Crime prevention methods are vital in reducing these offences and a key element of this is Rural Watch, a scheme similar to Neighbourhood Watch. In Gloucestershire Rural Watch membership has grown by over 30 per cent in the last 12 months.

The Crown Prosecution Service, the police, the courts and rural communities are all working together to deter offenders and bring them to justice. Together, we can cut crime in the countryside.