Sheep rustler ordered to pay back £11k to farmers
Date of alert:
Monday 21 March 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Hertfordshire Constabulary
A man who stole over 600 sheep has been ordered to pay back the proceeds of his crimes to affected farmers, a total of £11,000.
Daniel Smith, 26, pleaded guilty to four counts of theft at Hereford Magistrates’ Court in July 2021 and August 2021, he was sentenced to serve eight months imprisonment.
The sheep were stolen from four locations in fields in the Marden, Sutton St Nicholas and Cross Keys areas of Herefordshire between November 2020 and January 2021.
One of the victims identified sheep being sold as those stolen from his farm and subsequently 92% of the stolen sheep were recovered over the following two days in March 2021.
On 8 March 2022 at Worcester Crown Court, a Confiscation Order was made, whereby Mr Smith’s benefit figure from the crime was agreed to be £11,000.
The amount he was found to have available was also £11,000, which he has been ordered to pay within three months. If he does not pay, a further period of imprisonment in default of payment will be issued.
