A FARMER who has become the target of relentless vandals has said police “aren’t interested” in helping him after officers failed to visit the scene of another incident at his site.
Stephen March, 67, said the police responded with a “ludicrous” lack of action when 175 of his haybales were slashed in July, with officers failing to attend his address and inspect part of a car which broke off and was left behind during the raid.
His farm in Little Horkesley has now been targeted again after a substance believed to be rat poison was scattered on one of his fields where he keeps a horse and foal.
Mr March said he has once again received “the standard response” from Essex Police, who hasn't visited Vinesse Farm to investigate the incident and hasn't used any evidence he has offered which could identify the suspect.
The incident took place late last month when Mr March found a brown and blue substance on his land whilst he walking his dogs.
He then took parts of the substance to a pest control specialist who confirmed his fears that the brown substance was rodent poison and the blue substance was pest bait.
Mr March believes he is being targeted by the same people, with a separate incident last month involving a drone hovering over his house for nearly an hour.
He said an officer ought to have visited his address to look at the substance and speak to the individual he believes was responsible.
He said: “The police aren’t interested in getting any of the evidence.
“If I was a detective, I would drop in and visited the suspect because there would be material that matches.
“The bit of car that was broken off in that haylage raid, if you looked at the suspect's vehicle, it would match up.
“The police are not interesting in doing any police work – they say, ‘have you got any CCTV?’ and I just think, ‘get real’.”
He explained he would have to set up costly CCTV cameras across all of his land to catch the culprit, who hasn’t targeted his address directly because it would be caught on ring doorbell footage.
“When I reported it to police, I just got the standard response back, ‘thank you so much but we will do nothing’," he said.
'We prioritise the recovery of footage for investigations'
Insp Christopher Coyles, of Colchester’s Community Policing Team, said: “We have received and are working through a report concerning a substance being left in a grass field in Little Horkesley, between 6pm on Friday 6 September and 6am on Saturday 7 September.
“We would assure Mr March we always treat any investigation on its merits and prioritise the recovery of footage, whether that be CCTV, video doorbell, dash cam or mobile phone footage, as part of our many lines of enquiry.
“This doesn’t always mean that every investigation results in a positive outcome or those enquiries can come to fruition.
“When Mr March reported damage to his haybales in July, we looked extensively for evidence including around forensic opportunities, CCTV footage, witness accounts or other potential leads, but sadly we did not find enough to help us positively identify a suspect at that stage.
“Working with an protecting our rural businesses is a force priority, which is why we have a dedicated Rural Engagement Team.
“I have been in touch with this Team about this latest report, as they work specifically with partners around crimes which affect rural communities and businesses, including criminal damage or theft.
“Our rural engagement officers undertook 3,337 hours of foot and vehicle patrols and set up 121 community events between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024.
“If there is anyone within our community who can help us, we would urge you to please get in touch.
“You can let us know by submitting a report on our website or by using our online Live Chat service which is available 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week.
“It can be found at the bottom right of our homepage at www.essex.police.uk.
“Visit www.essex.police.uk/digital101 to find out more about our website reporting services.
“Alternatively, you can call us on 101.
“Please cite incident 42/137228/24.”
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