Six men have been charged in relation to rural thefts and burglary conspiracy worth nearly £1 million after a police investigation.
The men were charged with conspiracy to commit theft and conspiracy to commit burglary.
Nottinghamshire Police said large amounts of plant and agricultural machinery, pick-up trucks, vans and power tools were stolen over a two-year period.
The items, worth more than £910,000, were taken during a series of large-scale thefts and commercial burglaries across the East Midlands region.
Warrants were carried out at six properties yesterday (Wednesday, May 3) after a joint investigation was launched by Nottinghamshire Police and Lincolnshire Police.
The synchronised warrants targeted six different addresses in Newark, Screveton and East Bridgford, in Nottinghamshire, and Dunham on Trent, in Lincolnshire.
The six suspects, who have been linked to 65 offences between them according to police, are:
- Dominic Alderton (35) of Devon Road, Newark;
- Aaron Booth (24) of Occupation Lane, East Bridgford;
- Gary Self (56) of Coneygrey Spinney, Newark;
- Stefan Ward (31) of Vessey Close, Newark;
- Colin Warriner (35) of Dunham Road, Newton on Trent;
- John Watson (35) of Flintham Lane, Screveton.
Detective Sgt Rich Kinsey of Nottinghamshire Police said the investigation involved “close collaboration” between multiple police forces, with a dedicated team of detectives focussing solely on rural crime.
“We are pleased to have now charged six suspects in relation to this case,” he said.
“The theft of vehicles, plant and agricultural machinery can have an absolutely debilitating impact on local businesses and on people’s livelihoods.
“This crime series resulted in almost a million pounds worth of equipment being stolen from a number of different commercial addresses across the region over a two-year period.”
Kinsey said the force appreciates how much tackling rural crime means to the community and it is why it has dedicated “so many resources to deter this type of offending”.
“The force takes every report we receive extremely seriously and carries out regular patrols and targeted operations in a bid to crackdown on rural crime offences,” he said.
