Rural crime

Tools, quads/ATVs and machinery top the thieves’ wish lists.

Farm machinery is often expensive and farms are dependent on it. A stolen tractor could mean crops can’t be harvested, or a stolen quad bike means livestock can’t be fed. There isn’t a big market for second-hand farm machinery in the UK, so high value items can often be stolen to order and then sent abroad.

Farmers have experienced violence when confronting thieves on their land, which is often remote and difficult to secure.

This can be a lucrative criminal activity due to the prices that can often be received for cattle and sheep. Farmers can regularly lose one or two animals, and in some cases hundreds of animals are taken at a time, which can have a huge impact on their livelihoods.

Stealing significant quantities of animals from a field, by its nature, requires organisation as stock needs to be handled and housed. The theft of stock leads to significant financial losses, and can also have further impacts on businesses, including the loss of breeding stock.

Fly-tipping has changed from a van load of building rubble left in a gateway to lorry-loads of hazardous waste being dumped on farm land.

Large-scale, industrial fly-tipping is simply the illegal dumping of large amounts of waste, usually on farmland. Waste can be costly and time-consuming to remove.

When fly-tipping takes place on private land, it is the landowner’s responsibility to remove the dumped waste, often at great cost.

Fly-tipping is a serious threat – to the health of grazing animals, wildlife, to the environment, and especially to landowners who are often left to deal with the aftermath themselves.

Hare coursing is a blood sport where dogs are used in the pursuit of hares, often for the purposes of betting. It takes place on areas of flat, open land where the dogs can easily and visibly pursue the hare. It is typically carried out by large groups of people who travel long distances.

It has evolved into a nationally organised crime with huge sums changing hands through online betting.

Hare coursing is illegal under the Hunting Act, but it also has other impacts. For example, fences and gates can be damaged by vehicles forcibly trying to gain access to land. Once in a field, it is common practice to film the chase from a moving vehicle, which can inflict significant damage to the field and any crops within it.

Farmers who challenge hare coursers are often threatened with physical violence to themselves or their families.

Badger-baiting is a similar activity where dogs are set on badgers, typically resulting in the death of the badger, and potentially serious injuries being inflicted on the dogs.

ATM crime is not victimless - it has an effect on the individuals, business and the wider community who heavily rely on ATMs.

It is often the elderly and vulnerable in our communities who suffer the most when cash machines are damaged or destroyed during an attempted robbery, as these groups are less likely to be able to travel elsewhere to another machine to gain access to cash.

New figures show the number of attacks on ATMs has doubled over the past four years. It’s estimated that the cost of ATM attacks to communities over the past 12 months is around £150m.

Despite the fact that up to 4 out of 5 ATM attacks result in no money being stolen, the attack itself usually means that the cash machine can be out of action for weeks, denying rural residents access to local banking.

Poaching commonly means the illegal killing of deer, rabbits, fish and game (hare, pheasants, partridges, grouse, heath or moor game and black game, plus ptarmigan in Scotland).

Laws concerning wildlife poaching differ between England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These laws typically cover rights of access to land and trespass, and whether someone is authorised to fish or hunt game etc.

Nowadays, modern poaching gangs often drive 4x4 motor vehicles, with a number of dogs and weapons. The animals they kill may be for food, but are more often for selling on at a profit.

In July 2019, the National Rural Crime Network published the results of an 18 month intensive research project on domestic abuse in rural areas, ‘Captive and Controlled’.

It revealed a disturbing picture of domestic abuse in rural Britain with hidden victims – isolated, unsupported and unprotected.

In summary, their report finds:

• Abuse lasts, on average, 25 per cent longer in the most rural areas
• Traditional, patriarchal communities control and subjugate women
• The policing response is largely inadequate
• Support services are scarce – less available, less visible and less effective
• The more rural the setting, the higher the risk of harm
• Retreating rural resources make help and escape harder
• Rurality and isolation are deliberately used as weapons by abusers
• The short-term, often hand-to-mouth, funding model has created competing and fragmented service provision
• Close-knit rural communities facilitate abuse
• An endemic data bias against rural communities leads to serious gaps in response and support

 More information on their report is here.

We also have a blog post, which highlights the issues around domestic violence in rural areas. 

Wildlife crime is often very cruel, and the criminals responsible seldom limit their cruelty to animals.

Many wild animals are protected by law in the UK, and it is illegal to buy, sell or harm them.

Here is a list of the types of wildlife crime, in addition to the hare coursing and poaching mentioned in the above sections.

• Badger persecution
• Bat persecution
• Raptor persecution
• Theft or disturbance of freshwater pearl mussels
• Theft or disturbance of wild birds, their eggs and/or nests
• Theft or disturbance of wild animals, plants or habitat
• Animal cruelty
• Introduction of invasive species
• Hunting with dogs, e.g. deer and fox hunting.tet

Equine crime affects working stables and equestrian centres and includes offences like animal theft, tack theft and horse/pony abuse.

Every year horses, ponies and equine equipment worth hundreds of thousands of pounds are stolen across the country.

Wildlife crime is often very cruel, and the criminals responsible seldom limit their cruelty to animals.

Many wild animals are protected by law in the UK, and it is illegal to buy, sell or harm them.

Here is a list of the types of wildlife crime, in addition to the hare coursing and poaching mentioned in the above sections.

• Badger persecution
• Bat persecution
• Raptor persecution
• Theft or disturbance of freshwater pearl mussels
• Theft or disturbance of wild birds, their eggs and/or nests
• Theft or disturbance of wild animals, plants or habitat
• Animal cruelty
• Introduction of invasive species
• Hunting with dogs, e.g. deer and fox hunting.

Heritage crime is any offence which harms the value of heritage assets and their settings.

The cost to communities of heritage crime is enormous, not just in monetary value but in social costs. History fascinates many people, and the damage being caused could deny future generations the opportunity to enjoy our heritage.

The main heritage crime types are:

• Architectural theft – in particular metal and stone
• Criminal damage – in particular damage caused by fire
• Unlawful metal detecting (‘nighthawking’)
• Unlawful disturbance and salvage of maritime sites
• Anti-social behaviour – in particular fly-tipping and off-road driving
• Unauthorised works to heritage assets
• Illicit trade in cultural objects

 Heritage assests include:

• Listed buildings
• Scheduled monuments
• World Heritage Sites
• Protected marine wreck sites
• Conservation areas
• Registered parks and gardens
• Registered battlefields
• Protected military remains of aircraft and vessels of historic interest
• Undesignated but acknowledged heritage buildings and sites