Court orders man to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds

A man has been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds after stolen agricultural machinery was discovered.

Harry Hollowell, aged 27 of Jellicoe Road in Yeovil, appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday (8 October) for a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing.

Hollowell had previously appeared at the same court on Friday 22 December 2023 for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods.

On Friday 16 October 2020, officers carried out a search warrant for stolen goods at a farm in South Barrow, near Sparkford.

It was there that they discovered and seized 20 stolen machines, with further machines since recovered during the investigation.

Hollowell had been purchasing farm machinery stolen from farm burglaries in the Sedgemoor area of West Somerset throughout 2020.

The investigation also found that he, with another defendant, had bought and sold stolen plant equipment taken from building sites in Cardiff in 2020.

Hollowell was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for these offences.

At the POCA hearing, the judge granted a confiscation order and Hollowell has been ordered to pay £309,116.38, of which £53,958.32 will be paid to seven victims who did not have their stolen equipment returned to them or have an alternative compensation.

The remaining money will be invested back into the criminal justice system to continue to battle crime.

Ch Insp Joe Piscina, the rural crime lead, said: “The theft of plant and agricultural machinery and tools have a detrimental impact on the farming community, who already work tirelessly to provide for our communities.

“Hollowell’s actions cost the victims thousands of pounds in time and materials and it is brilliant that those victims will receive some compensation for their suffering.

“I would also like to praise the hard work of the original investigating officers who first brought Hollowell before the courts, and officers from our Financial Investigations Unit who worked on the POCA process.”

Det Ch Insp Carlos Filippsen, from our Financial Investigations Unit, said: “Compensation for victims remains a focus for our financial investigations, reinforced by the desire to tackle crime at all levels.

“Criminals, especially those who use the proceeds of their crimes to further commit offences, have a significant impact on our communities and we will continue to work hard to ensure individuals are not able to live off this money – such as by living in large houses, drive expensive cars, or enjoy a luxurious lifestyle at the cost of hard working members of the public.

“I would like to recognise the impact that these thefts have had on the victims and thank them for their strength and patience in supporting us with this process.

“While it will not fix what happened, I hope receiving this compensation will go some ways to helping them recover from what happened.”