People driving round fields at night

[Forever Fendt]

Have sometimes wondered what would happen in a situation like this - say a farmer caught thieves in his yard one night and went out and shot out radiators/tyres, guessing it would end up with him losing his firearms licence? How would it be viewed to even go outside in such a situation with a gun over your shoulder? Presumably "possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence" or some such? Any cases anyone knows about?

local butcher in town got fed up with windows been broken so he shot the next one who did it a pensioner slept in his allotment shed after many burglary and shot the next thief

 

[Manny]

I shoot a hare that was been chased by poachers dogs a few years back. I was out rabbit and fox shooting at home when I saw lights across the next field. I got myself down in a ditch out of sight and removed the mod off my .17hmr. With the thermol scope on it they had no idea where the shoot had come from. I have never seen 3 men scarper to a vehicle so fast and the dogs ended up running down the road after the car. This stopped them for about three years but there back again now and driving there vehicles around fields when there dry enough.

 

[Dry Rot]

I shoot a hare that was been chased by poachers dogs a few years back. I was out rabbit and fox shooting at home when I saw lights across the next field. I got myself down in a ditch out of sight and removed the mod off my .17hmr. With the thermol scope on it they had no idea where the shoot had come from. I have never seen 3 men scarper to a vehicle so fast and the dogs ended up running down the road after the car. This stopped them for about three years but there back again now and driving there vehicles around fields when there dry enough.

That suggests that the 12 bore poacher alarms (trip wire fires a blank) might at least be a deterrent, Anyone tried them?

 

[Surgery]

At the moment round here we are regularly having people driving round the fields at night. They gain access by driving through locked field gates. An eye witness about 2 months ago said that the vehicle hit the gate at 50-60 mph. The police do nothing apart from dish out crime reference numbers. My son looked out of the kitchen window at about 11.30 and saw 4 men on a quad bike about 30m away on the farm drive shining torches around, including into my pickup. Spoke to our neighbours and they are having the same issues. If the police aren’t interested what do you do?

You need to do a combination of things

firstly start a what’s ap group with neighbouring farms etc , you can then instantly contact all in the area of what’s going on and patrol the area with several vehicles being able to record detail by phone video hopefully even having photos of the offenders

secondly you need to contact your local countryside police officers and get one or more on the group , hopefully if more than one someone will be on duty 24hrs , in view they then can see the issues your having in the area and instant details of offences and offenders and vehicles.

thirdly , get onto other WhatsAp groups within the wider area to see if there is trouble on its way.

A group we are on started small bit now has plenty of country sorts on it along with 4 plus police officers , whilst it doesn’t stop issues and has brought a lot of people together in sharing information , also quite few police arrests have been made because of these groups.

However big or small , even taking photos of dodgy vehicles you see all helps to keep eyes open.

I know there are several members on tff that are in our local group in south oxford and I know if they read this they might also make some useful comments @Poncherello1976 @Doing it for the kids

 

[Surgery]

Cars in fields will equal trespass, so a civil crime to plod. You need some imagination to make it definitely appear criminal. Theft? Threats to life or limb? Guns?

Sure some government department posted on here a few weeks back saying government want to go back on promises on making trespass a criminal offence after wanting to make it so , not very happy at all.

can someone find the link?

 

[Manny]

That suggests that the 12 bore poacher alarms (trip wire fires a blank) might at least be a deterrent, Anyone tried them?

I don't know what scared them the most, the sound of the shoot or the fact I hit a running hare not far from there dogs. I only shoot the hare as I thought it would get me in less trouble than shooting a dog and I got luck that it ran straight at me to get a good shoot.

 

[MrNoo]

The other thing is you MUST keep reporting via 101 (email is best as they simply never answer the phone) or 999 when you witness a crime, that way the crime stats start to creep up and the local Countryside officer can then do something about it, as he can say to his seniors that there is an escalating issue.
This was the one point pushed on us on our Group as a lot of incidents on the group had not been reported when the officer went and checked/cross referenced.

 

[Dry Rot]

The other thing is you MUST keep reporting via 101 (email is best as they simply never answer the phone) or 999 when you witness a crime, that way the crime stats start to creep up and the local Countryside officer can then do something about it, as he can say to his seniors that there is an escalating issue.
This was the one point pushed on us on our Group as a lot of incidents on the group had not been reported when the officer went and checked/cross referenced.

The problem here is that the officer who responds can decide that "someone walking their dog" is not a crime but a civil offence! You know the arch bishop of Canterbury passing by as an independent witness.

It wasn't an offence involving dogs that I reported but the cop decided it was "not a crime". I had to quote the relevant Act of Parliament and suggest that it depended on the frequency of the occurrence whether it was a crime or not and I wanted the incident to be logged to establish repetition. But when police sergeants don't know what a receipt is and think their wages are paid by the government, not by the tax payer, what can you expect?

 

[Poncherello1976]

Just to add on yo what has been said before.
Definately 101/report onlinet if it has already happened. It helps the force to build up a picture of what is going on. If you do not tell them they do not know.
If it is ongoing, 999 it. It goes against everything i wass told growing up, as it does not seem like an emergency, but if it is ongoing the that will get the quickest response.
The WhatsApp group seems to work well with us, and get help to quickly build up a picture of where they have moved to. We caught several this way in 2020 and had a good response from the police. A couple of vehicles have been caught this morning via the WhatsApp and police intervention.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

In my opinion fire arms should be almost banned, talking to a lady today has a 3000 acre farm an no one in the family has a firearm. yet every little turd and his mate need a gun to "shoot" clays or rough shoot - simply no need once you taken a gun out to defend yourself with your already in and almost no win situation. I think every listed gun in the uk gun should be rounded up and scrapped or you pay a bond say £15,000 and if you are caught misusing your gun that's gone too.

OK, how do you expect me to euthanize a casualty sheep? The humane slaughter association recommend using a shotgun (as the easiest, safest and and most compassionate method). That is without thinking about pest control.

 

[Fast Farmer]

Go out and shoot there tyres, as above get night vision or thermal, smash windscreen anything to put them off...

We had a group of men in a transit 3am in the morning driving round the village, we followed them in our pickup rang the police, met the police at the local school were the policeman stopped them, there were 7 blokes in the van supposedly "rabbiting" and they were from Stockport which is about 2 hours away!! Bloody joke

 

[Phil P]

At least the police seem to be taking it more seriously in some parts of the country, just seen this on Twitter -

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1345754857827930118

 

[farmerm]

In my opinion fire arms should be almost banned, talking to a lady today has a 3000 acre farm an no one in the family has a firearm. yet every little turd and his mate need a gun to "shoot" clays or rough shoot - simply no need once you taken a gun out to defend yourself with your already in and almost no win situation. I think every listed gun in the uk gun should be rounded up and scrapped or you pay a bond say £15,000 and if you are caught misusing your gun that's gone too.

Fortunately it is not up to you. Go look up the stats as to how many legally held firearms are involved in crimes and then go look up how many crimes involve illegally held firearms. Once you are done there go look up the numbers of crimes that involve a legally held knife, if you want to ban all responsibly held guns then you equally need to remove all knives from every cupboard and toolbox.

 

[Kevgall]

That suggests that the 12 bore poacher alarms (trip wire fires a blank) might at least be a deterrent, Anyone tried them?

I have them in my sheds, I take the shot out and fill with red hot chilli powder, you have to cut the cartridge down before fitting, because they’re too long, it’s a little awkward but they work. My son in law opened my shed door when I wasn’t home, he had ringing ears n sore eyes for a couple of days

 

[steveR]

I have them in my sheds, I take the shot out and fill with red hot chilli powder, you have to cut the cartridge down before fitting, because they’re too long, it’s a little awkward but they work. My son in law opened my shed door when I wasn’t home, he had ringing ears n sore eyes for a couple of days

Been thinking of investing in a couple of these... However, I'd have though chili may be a bit too far, much though unwanted invader deserve it?

 

[Still Farming]

The other thing is you MUST keep reporting via 101 (email is best as they simply never answer the phone) or 999 when you witness a crime, that way the crime stats start to creep up and the local Countryside officer can then do something about it, as he can say to his seniors that there is an escalating issue.
This was the one point pushed on us on our Group as a lot of incidents on the group had not been reported when the officer went and checked/cross referenced.

And community council as police attend and paper trails and intelligence gained too.

 

[Walton2]

I have them in my sheds, I take the shot out and fill with red hot chilli powder, you have to cut the cartridge down before fitting, because they’re too long, it’s a little awkward but they work. My son in law opened my shed door when I wasn’t home, he had ringing ears n sore eyes for a couple of days

These alarm mines are also used to train dogs to get used to gunshot. I always like my dog to be calm around guns, so that’s why I have them inside a few of my buildings. I suppose your dog will be calm in the presence of chilli as well, a useful bonus !!

 

[ollie989898]

If it was me, I would have teams of shooters on the place more regularly shooting vermin, more eyes and ears. Whatsapp group so that everyone knows who is about.

Block all gateways and entrances. Dig ditches to stop vehicle access.

 

[MrNoo]

Been rife around here today with up to 6 different cars, everywhere, barstewards

 

[stroller]

You need to get an ELMS grant and plant a few hedges with ditches, make some nice small fields that will spoil their fun