Farmer fears gang targeting farms in north west

Thomas Conway is a farmer and independent policing and community safety partnership member

An organised gang of criminals may be targeting farms in Northern Ireland’s north west, a member of the local policing and community safety partnership (PCSP) has said.

The latest Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) data shows there were 228 agricultural crimes across Northern Ireland in 2023 – a rise of two on the previous 12 months.

However, in the Derry City and Strabane policing district, agricultural crime rose by 130% last year.

Independent PCSP member Thomas Conway said he beleives a gang operating in the area may be responsible for a spate of recent thefts.

Mr Conway told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme they "certainly have a knowledge of how to handle livestock".

"It is maybe just one gang operating and doing this and they are located in the north west," he said.

The PSNI said that with enquiries ongoing into a number of recent thefts, it is too early to say if an organised gang is involved.

In 2022, a total of 10 agriculture crimes were reported in Derry and Strabane. That figure rose to 23 last year.

PSNI rural crime lead Supt Johnston McDowell said statistics “don’t account for the impact rural crime can have”.

“It can have a really negative and severe impact on a family, a farming business and the community,” Supt McDowell said.

Police define agricultural crime as burglary, robbery and theft where the property or vehicles stolen have an agricultural link.

A number of thefts in the north west have also been reported to the PSNI in the first few months of this year.

Farm machinery worth about £3,000 was stolen from a farm near Claudy in February.

In the same month, farmer Seamus Gormley, 76, told BBC News NI he had been left "sickened" after a flock of pregnant ewes were stolen from a field near the village of Park in County Londonderry.

In January, 50 lambs were stolen in Claudy, in what farmer Dermot Mullan said was a "well-planned operation" that would cost him up to £7,000.

Police say a degree of planning is required to steal sheep

Mr Conway, who is a farmer in Claudy, said there is a “drastic lack of police resources in rural communities”.

“I know that is probably down to finance, to money, and manpower. But when people of an ill disposed nature see a lack of policing they take advantage," he added.

Supt McDowell said because farm machinery and stock can sell for high prices, they "can be a lucrative market for criminals".

He added: “There’s no doubt that recent thefts, and all thefts of this nature, take a degree of planning. For instance, when sheep are stolen, to remove the animals requires a suitable vehicle, such as a sheep trailer."

Supt McDowell said the planning makes “the crime all the more despicable".

Work is ongoing to combat rural crime, police said.

Lynn Keatley, pictured with her brother Alan and two nieces, says crime is always a concern for farmers

In February, about 20 farmers gathered at Plumbridge in County Tyrone for a trailer marking event where police put security identity marks on machinery and registered them to make it easier to check and trace.

Among those at the event was Lynn Keatley who farms with her brother Alan near Donemana.

A few years ago they were targeted by someone who had siphoned diesel from their farm machinery.

“Crime is always a concern for farmers,” she told BBC News NI.

“For as long as I remember things have been stolen in our area. There was a stage about ten years ago every farmer in the country was having their quad [bike] stolen,” she said.

The nature of a rural community, often remote and isolated, can make farmers feel more at risk, she added.

John Pinkerton increased security at his family farm after a quad bike was stolen

That in turn, she said, means communities become more tight knit and neighbours feel compelled to have to look out for each other.

Farmer John Pinkerton from Newtownstewart was also at the event.

Five years ago he had a quad bike stolen from the farm his family has owned for the last 50 years.

The theft left him thousands of pounds out of pocket but spurred him into rethinking security.

“We went then and invested in CCTV cameras and they are brilliant. We can see everything and it records 24/7,” he said.

The recent livestock thefts, he said, are worrying but not surprising because the “price of sheep is just crazy money at the moment”.

The PSNI has said it is vital victims of rural crime come forward.

Supt McDowell said there is a concern many incidents go unreported.

“Farming is a labour intensive business and, often, farms are in families for generations. The time, money and energy put into farming can be a massive investment over many years.

“Our appeal is report rural crime to us,” he said.