Looking to talk to victims of sheep rustling or illegal butchery

[FreyaPW]

Hi everyone,

I am a freelance journalist and I'm working on an article about how cases of illegal butchery and sheep rustling affect farmers and rural communities. I'm looking in particular at the cases in Northampton for which 3 men have now plead guilty, but I'm also looking at cases around the UK.

If anyone has been a victim of sheep rustling or illegal butchery and would be willing to chat to me, anonymously if needed, then please reply here

If you haven't been a victim of this but still would like to chat about where this meat might be going in the supply chain or any other information, that would be great too.

I'm happy to send any information you'd like about me or my project.

Thanks for your help,

Freya

 

[Northeastfarmer]

@yellowbelly

 

[yellowbelly]

If anyone has been a victim of sheep rustling or illegal butchery and would be willing to chat to me, anonymously if needed, then please reply here

I don't know whether you've seen this...........

Best wishes to all our sheep meat customers (that pay).......

These last few months we've experienced the best trade I have ever seen in the sheepmeat sector. To all those wholesale butchers, buyers, retailers and customers can I say "A heartfelt thank you"..... ...........to the barstewards who are using our fields as some sort of a 'pick your own' for...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

.............if not, it might be worth a read. It pretty much documents our experiences over the last couple of years.
This little guy lost his mother on Saturday night.....

A bloke out walking his dog, 2 or 3 miles from where the lamb last saw her, found this (or at least his dog did) this morning......

.......what's left of his mother, fly tipped in a dyke

Happy to help you if I can - be warned, some of my language can get a bit 'agricultural' when discussing the perpetrators of these crimes.
PM me if you like.

 

[FreyaPW]

Thanks for the link to that thread, I'll look through now. It would be great to talk, I'll PM you now

 

[Sprig]

Hi Freya. We caught two teenagers red handed trying to steal a lamb from our field this week. See my thread on here. I am happy to talk to you.

 

[Bob the beef]

Not Northamptonshire but happy to talk. We have had sheep lifted in last few years

 

[It was already broken.]

There can't be many sheep farmers who haven't been affected by this type of thing at some point.

 

[yellowbelly]

@FreyaPW

A little more information for your article.
Some more stolen (not ours this time) in the area last Saturday.
Latest news from Scunthorpe police ................


Humberside Police
3 hrs ·
Four arrested following discovery of sheep carcasses
Four men are currently in police custody after a number of sheep carcasses were found at an address in Scunthorpe this morning (18 April).
The discovery was made after police received reports of suspicious activity in the Axholme Road area. Enquiries led to the men, aged 22, 29, 30 and 54, being arrested on suspicion of theft.
Neighbourhood Inspector Mark Fletcher said: “My officers remain on scene and are working closely with the local farming community and our local authority partners as enquiries continue.
“I would urge anyone who spots suspicious activity around farmland or believes someone is selling illegal meat to contact us on 101. We have a dedicated rural crime team who will investigate these matters.
Alternatively, you can report information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. ”
A cordon remains in place as enquiries continue.

PM me if you need any more info on the above.

 

[ridger]

Friend of mine had a few butchered as well, lives near kilrea in northern Ireland

 

[FreyaPW]

Hi everyone, thanks for the extra information, very helpful! If anyone wants to talk to me for the article I am still collecting information so would welcome that!

 

[Lincoln75]

Hi everyone,

I am a freelance journalist and I'm working on an article about how cases of illegal butchery and sheep rustling affect farmers and rural communities. I'm looking in particular at the cases in Northampton for which 3 men have now plead guilty, but I'm also looking at cases around the UK.

If anyone has been a victim of sheep rustling or illegal butchery and would be willing to chat to me, anonymously if needed, then please reply here

If you haven't been a victim of this but still would like to chat about where this meat might be going in the supply chain or any other information, that would be great too.

I'm happy to send any information you'd like about me or my project.

Thanks for your help,

Freya

Make sure your write up gives the full picture ie Dont forget to confirm whether claims that the rustlers are mainly immigrants / from ethnic minority groups are true or not.

 

[Clive]

We have sheep here over winter and lost about 30 last time one at a time to people shooting them for the freezer or two sell down the pub