Rustlers who stole more than 100 sheep jailed for three years

Two members of a hill farming family have each been jailed for three years for rustling neighbours’ sheep and removing their ear tags to cover up their crimes.

Charles “Neville” Raine, 66, and his nephew Phillip, 47, were caught after police held an identity parade of stolen ewes.

Farmer victims from County Durham, Cumbria and North Yorkshire were invited to identify their stolen animals at Kirkby Stephen Livestock Market.

See also: Hill farmers stole more than 100 sheep from neighbours

The pair were found to have stolen 116 sheep which did not belong to their farms.

Teesside Crown Court heard on Tuesday (5 January) that the Raines tried to cover up their criminal activity by filing off horn marks and removing ear tags from the stolen sheep.

Several ear tags of stolen sheep from five farms were found in a coffee jar at Hazel Gill – one of several holdings farmed by the Raine family, near Bowes, County Durham.

Prosecutor Sam Faulks said the value of the stolen sheep was about £25,000.

He added: “This is not just loss of lambs but also lowering and loss of pedigree status, loss of wool value and loss of working time.

“But also, the need to move sheep about at the behest of the police, and the need for veterinary treatment.”

Some sheep retuned had picked up sheep scab and foot-rot, Mr Faulks told the court.

In a statement read to the court earlier, sheep farmer John Addison who suffered the single largest loss of sheep, said he felt “betrayed”.

He added: “It has had a severe impact on blood lines and on reinvestment and growth of the business.”

Andrew Haslam, defending Charles Raine, said his client was frail and suffered from osteoarthritis in his right hip and diabetes.

He admitted: “It is a dark day for the hill farming community of Teesdale.”

But Mr Haslam noted that the Raines had “served the community with distinction up until 2010”.

Denise Breen-Lawton, defending Phillip Raine, said: “Whoever was the brains of the operation, it was not him.

“He had a practical role, scrubbing out horn burn marks and tearing tags of sheep.”

She said her client had been ostracised by the community. “Nobody speaks to them at all. It has even affected their young child.”

Judge Tony Briggs sentenced both men to three years in prison.

Judge Briggs said: “It was not at all clear how sheep came into the Raines ownership, but they were other people’s sheep and they had decided to keep them and use them.

The judge emphasised the trust and integrity required to farm on common land and said that neighbours were in “shock and disbelief” when they heard about the revelations.

Addressing Charles Raine, he said: “This is an attack upon the community and its hard work. It is entirely and utterly inexcusable.”

He told the court that Charles appeared to be a “very sharp and observant man with a controlling personality”, but stressed that this crime was a “family venture”.

Addressing Phillip Raine, he said: ‘He was better placed than most to appreciate the significant effects it would have on the community and the traceability of sheep.”

Speaking after sentencing, Kevin Tuck, a local neighbourhood inspector, said: “ I cannot recall an acquisitive crime where there is so much community impact and fallout as a result.”

We have had to develop new ways of working and really relied on community support to proceed with this investigation.

Expert witness Richard Betton, a hill farmer and NFU Council delegate, was commended by the judge for his conduct in the court and the three-year police investigation.

“Hill farming is a proud and honourable profession but we do have our rotten apples. We need to rebuild the trust of our communities so we can carry on the tradition of hefting sheep.

“I don’t think that the Raines have a future in farming. No doubt they will try and that is up to them.

“Their proud history makes it all the worst. They had the stock sense and knowledge to farm successfully without being dishonest.”

Swaledale Sheep Breeders’ Association chairman Alan Alderson said: “A dark cloud had been hanging over our association. It spoiled the atmosphere at shows and sales.

“I feel strongly that justice has been done.”