Farmer robbed 14 times
Cullybackey farmer Wilbert Hanna. Pic by John McIlwaine
A NORTH Antrim farmer whose property has been raided 14 times has told of his anger over thieves sending his insurance “through the roof”.
Cullybackey man Wilbert Hanna, 59, who runs a beef and dairy farm, said thieves have taken more than £50,000 of equipment from his premises over the last four years.
Mr Hanna, who has CCTV cameras and extensive security at his property, said that just two weeks ago he spotted two masked men “prowling around my yard”.
“We caught them on camera,” he said.
“We know the boys because we have seen them here before. We have to lock everything up now and practically nail it down.
“The cost of insurance is crippling – but you have to insure against these criminals.”
PSNI Superintendent Brian Kee told the News Letter he believed “the vast majority of crime in rural areas is carried out by travelling criminals or opportunistic thieves”.
“This would be people who will call into farms looking for work and wanting to cut silage or to paint. If they see an opportunity to steal a quad and tools they will come back in the subsequent days,” he said.
“While the vast majority of rural criminality is perpetrated by travelling criminals, there is an element of organised criminality.
“We do see, although not often, very expensive tractors being stolen. Sometimes those tractors are turning up in various parts of the UK or Europe, or indeed further afield.”
Supt Kee has responsibility for H District, which includes Ballymena, Coleraine, Larne, Ballymoney and Moyle. He said police “are aware of a number of organised criminal gangs” operating in H District and are closely monitoring them.
He added that while a “small number of gang members teetered on the edge of paramilitary groups in the past, my sense is that these people have more of a criminal background”.
But concern is mounting in the farming community.
On Wednesday, 55 people attended a special meeting in Ballymena between local farmers and PSNI officers.
Mr Hanna said he and other farmers were now patrolling the roads in a bid to stamp out theft.
“We are watching everything all the time,” he said.
“But this theft is not just happening here around Ballymena, it is happening all over the north of Ireland. We went to a meeting with the police on Wednesday night and got nowhere. We put our case across and I don’t know what is going to happen.
“We are going to have to take the law into our own hands.”
However, Supt Kee advised farmers to leave law enforcement to the police.
“My message would be very strongly that farmers who see suspicious activity need to report it to the police immediately.
“We are working very hard to prevent and detect these crimes. We are patrolling the roads night by night.”
Supt Kee insisted there are sufficient police officers to patrol the Ballymena area.
He added there was no need for a specialist farm crime task force “because all police officers are committed to protecting life and property and bringing offenders to justice”.
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
