Two men have been found guilty of the theft of nearly £30,000 of livestock in the north-east of Scotland.
Lloyd Fowlie (32) and Craig Arbuckle (30) were convicted by jury at Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Friday, December 20, 2019.
The pair were sentenced on Friday (February 7) and handed a community payback order of:
- 300 hours of unpaid work to be completed in 18 months;
- Supervision for two years;
- Restriction of liberty order for 11 months.
They had been charged with the theft of cattle worth nearly £30,000 from Kinellar and Monymusk in June and July 2016.
North East Division’s rural crime lead, Chief Inspector Norman Stevenson, said: “The conviction of Lloyd Fowlie and Craig Arbuckle is very much welcomed and a testament to all involved that rural crime and the safety of those in such areas is taken very seriously.
Enquiries of these types will be investigated fully and whilst the evidence capture is challenging, with the support of the community and partners to Police Scotland, a conviction has been secured in cases like these.
“We recognise the significant and devastating impact that rural crime can have on local businesses and the livelihoods of those living and working in our rural communities, which makes us all the more determined as a collective to identify and prosecute those responsible.
“The North East Rural Crime and Safety Partnership would like to assure the local community that our efforts to tackle this form of criminality will not stop and we will continue to work collaboratively to ensure rural crimes committed are robustly investigated and brought before the courts.”
National Farmers’ Union regional manager Lorna Paterson said: ” NFU Scotland cannot ever condone rural criminality within our community and anything relating to rural crime, be it livestock worrying or theft is a complete blight on the countryside.
We’d like to acknowledge the work of the North East Rural Crime and Safety Partnership and we are certain the wider rural community will be grateful for their efforts and success.
“NFU Scotland always welcomes the successes which our Police Scotland staff achieve through collaboration and we will continue to work closely with their staff and other stakeholders in order to mitigate incidents and activities of this type.”
