Stolen farm machinery dealer faces huge payout

A man who handled stolen agricultural and construction machinery has been ordered to pay more than £309,000 – with thousands going to victims left out of pocket.

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

He had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods and was sentenced to three years and two months in prison at the same court in December 2023.

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Harry Hollowell © Avon and Somerset Police

The case followed a police raid on 16 October 2020, when officers executed a search warrant at a farm in South Barrow, near Sparkford.

They discovered 20 stolen machines, with more recovered as the investigation continued.

Officers found Hollowell had been buying farm machinery stolen during a series of burglaries in the Sedgemoor area of West Somerset in 2020.

He also conspired with another defendant to buy and sell stolen plant equipment taken from building sites in Cardiff that same year.

At the Poca hearing, the judge granted a confiscation order. Hollowell was ordered to repay £309,116.38.

Of that, £53,958.32 will go to seven victims whose stolen equipment was never returned or replaced. The rest will be invested back into the criminal justice system.

Commenting after the hearing, Ch Insp Joe Piscina, rural crime lead at Avon and Somerset Police, said:

“The theft of plant and agricultural machinery and tools has 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.”

Det Ch Insp Carlos Filippsen added: “While it will not fix what happened, I hope receiving this compensation will go some ways to helping them recover from what happened.”