5 of the most shocking farm crime stories of 2015

Farm crime has continued to dog the agriculture industry during 2015 with the National Rural Crime Network estimating the cost of such incidents could be as much as £800m.

Tools, fuel and quad bikes top the list of things stolen from British farms, but livestock theft also remain stubbornly high.

Over the course of the year, the industry has also seen a handful of mindless criminal acts which have left farmers incredulous.

See also: Read more rural crime stories from Farmers Weekly

Here are five of the most shocking crimes that UK farmers have been subjected to over the past 12 months:

1) Heifer strangled with rope in field near Whitby

A farmer in North Yorkshire was left appalled after she found a 16-month heifer strangled to death in its field near Whitby. 

2) Thieves steal 300 sheep and 120 cattle in one night

Reports of one or two animals going missing are common place, but the idea that criminals were prepared to steal so many animals from a farm in Lincolnshire came as a shock.

3) Farmer has roof stolen twice in three weeks

Falling victim to thieves is bad enough, but when you lose the same item within a three-week period, as happened to one Cotswold farmer, then it is particularly galling. 

4) Quad bikers run over and kill 23 sheep in the Cotswolds

A farmer from near Cirencester was left reeling after joyriders forced their way into his property and deliberately targeted his sheep with quad bikes.

5) Farmworkers shot at by Afghan fugitives

Two farmworkers from Staffordshire cheated death in October after they were shot at by a gang of fugitive Afghan illegal immigrants.