Five men convicted of Anglesey beef cattle theft

Five men who stole 14 cows from a farm on Anglesey have been convicted and handed suspended prison sentences by Caernarfon Crown Court.

The men have also been fined a total of £3,700.

The beef cattle were reported stolen in December 2022 from a shed at Llannerch-y-medd by farmer Sion Hughes.

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In a co-ordinated police operation, 12 of the stolen cattle were recovered in April 2023 from two farms in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

After an investigation including examining CCTV footage, North Wales Police identified a lorry moving to and from the area that was linked to Liam Kettleborough, 29.

Guilty pleas

Kettleborough was arrested and phone analysis revealed messages with the four other defendants: Jack Billington, 23, Stanley Jones, 26, Michael McLeod, 57, and Clifford Smith, 65.

Billington, Jones, Kettleborough and McLeod pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary.

Smith, from whose farms the cattle were recovered, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods.

Andrew Warman, senior crown prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Cymru-Wales, said: “The evidence in this case had to be pieced together from a variety of sources. 

“The investigation was extremely thorough, allowing the CPS to present strong evidence showing how each individual played a part in the overall criminality.” 

Rural crime costs

In 2024, rural crime cost the industry an estimated £44.1m, according to NFU Mutual figures, including livestock theft, which remained high at an estimated £3.4m across the UK.

Mr Warman added: “Rural crime has a significant impact on farming communities, severely affecting peoples’ livelihoods, and is taken very seriously by the Crown Prosecution Service.”