Farmers claim local ‘spotters’ helping thieves target properties

Farmers have spoken of the ongoing trauma and fears for their families which have come as a result of being robbed in often isolated farms.

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) on Monday launched a joint campaign with the Garda, Crimestoppers and advertising website Done Deal to raise awareness about the issue of thefts from farms.

Some 30,000 farm-related crime incidents involving the theft of tools, vehicles, machinery and equipment have been reported to the Garda since 2010. One farmer said unscrupulous locals were selling information about farmyards and farm families to criminal gangs, who would then remove the tools, equipment and even cattle, usually at night.

Tipped off

Liam Dunne, who farms near Athy, Co Kildare, lost a jeep and equipment in a break-in. He said he was certain of the identity of the “spotter” who had tipped off criminals to his movements and the kind of equipment they might expect to find on his farm.

He said he had spoken to other farmers who have been robbed in the area. He said they were able to record who had visited their farms and were sure of the identity of the person who passed on the information to criminal gangs.

His jeep was used in three other break-ins the night it was stolen and was later found overturned in a ditch near Portlaoise. It was written off by the insurers but the value paid was not enough to get a new vehicle, he said. He said having the farmyard robbed was like being “violated” .

Robin Talbot, whose farm in Ballacolla, Co Laois, was robbed on June 23rd last, said his workshop was targeted and a jeep and tools were apparently stolen to order.

He said his vehicle was subsequently recovered after it had been used to ram a Garda car. A lingering worry was the realisation that, had he woken and interrupted the perpetrators, he could have been seriously harmed, he said. He said it was clear that the raiders had prior information about the workings of his farm and the movements of his family.

For a number of weeks after the raid, he found it difficult to check the farm at night. When accompanied by his daughter (12) on his rounds, he still wonders who might be watching now and who was watching in the past.

Mr Talbot asked farmers and others not to buy tools cheaply at fairs or through advertising sites. He said they may appear cheaper but the price to the farming community was great.

Stolen to order

Detective Eugene O’Sullivan said the most common incidents were thefts from farm yards, followed by theft from outhouses or sheds, followed by burglaries.

Some break-ins were opportunistic while others were planned by criminal gangs with equipment stolen to order, he said. Equipment had been found as far away as Australia, he said.

Det O’Sullivan advised farmers to record, possibly with photographs, the name, make and serial numbers of their equipment and to keep records so property could be reunited with them.

The IFA reminded farmers to sign up to the TheftStop scheme, which provides members with a unique security ID with which members can then mark their machinery and equipment, as well as uploading an image of the item to the TheftStop site.