Two men have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal in relation to the slaughter and illegal butchery of sheep and lambs across Northamptonshire between June 22 and October 7, 2019.
23-year-old Robert Iordan and 36-year-old Florin Nutu both appeared before Northampton Crown Court on February 14 where they changed their plea to guilty.
Iordan and Nutu were arrested on the A14 in the early hours of Monday, October 7, following the discovery of nine illegally butchered sheep near Welton the previous evening.
Both men will be sentenced after the trial of 39-year-old Viorel Manu, which is due to start on Monday, March 23.
Manu was the third man charged in November 2019 as part of the same investigation.
All three are from Birmingham.
Operation Stock
Operation Stock refers to the Northamptonshire Police investigation into illegal butchery.
In total, 12 reports of illegal butchery were made to the force between June and October, with the Operation Stock investigation launched in response.
Across the board, three million pounds’ worth of livestock was stolen from UK farms in 2019, according to the latest figures by rural insurer NFU Mutual.
Large-scale sheep thefts over the past two years have contributed to a 19.4% rise in value since 2017, making rustling the most costly crime for the UK’s farming sector after agricultural vehicle and machinery theft.
