ESSEX Police has spoken out following the conviction of a 30-year-old man who conspired to steal £380,000 of GPS equipment from north Essex farmers.

Gintaras Jankauskas was convicted in Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday and will now serve a prison sentence close to four years; his co-conspirator, Aidas Cesna, received a three-year sentence in July for the same offence.

Explaining just how costly the thefts can be for farmers, Essex Police’s PC Samantha Smith, of Essex's rural engagement team, said it can take a long time for the equipment to be sourced and replaced.

She said: “Theft of GPS equipment hits our farmers hard. 

“Global positioning systems are a critical part of modern farming and cost thousands of pounds to replace; then there are the additional costs and time out of operation required to repair the damage caused by thieves.

“So, thefts can cause significant harm and disruption to farm businesses, particularly in the autumn, when delays can prove extremely costly for farmers bringing in their harvest.”

Ashley Petchey, of the Crown Prosecution Service, added that farming machinery is often damaged extensively when thieves look to ransack tractors and other vehicles of the technology.

He said: “Cesna and Jankauskas carried out a spree of thefts and took more than £350,000 worth of equipment over a few days. 

“Thefts like these have been terrorising rural communities up and down the country, causing a huge financial loss to hard-working farmers.

“Equipment is not straightforward to replace and, often, machines are heavily damaged in the process, leaving farmers without the essential tools they need to do their job.

“In the face of the evidence collected by Cheshire Police and Essex Police, they pleaded guilty and have been sentenced.”