Wellingborough man and brother jailed for farming crimes

William Andrew Fury, 31, of Knox Road, Wellingborough, and Joseph David Fury, 27, of Jubilee Drive, Walgrave, both admitted conspiracy to handle stolen goods at Carlisle Crown Court on Monday (January 22).

After an increase in thefts from farms in Northamptonshire at the beginning of 2016, where sheep-handling equipment and other agricultural items were being stolen, police traced some of the items to an auction in Carlisle in January 2017.

A large quantity of stolen agricultural equipment, valued at about £30,000, was recovered at the auction where the brothers were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

Both of them live in Northamptonshire and had transported the stolen items to Carlisle in order to sell them at the auction.

Rural crime officer Chloe Gillies said: “This is a really great result for the farming community, who have been a huge help in both identifying who the recovered items belong to and for continuing to report suspicious incidents to us for investigation.

“It has been such a pleasure to be able to return the stolen items to their rightful owners.

“I would like to take this opportunity to stress the importance of marking farming equipment so that it is identifiable.

“By doing so, it helps police return stolen items back to their owners if and when we recover them.”

William was jailed for one year and Joseph was jailed for nine months.