Man to face theft charges

The charge follows the theft of a tractor from a farm on the Lisnafiffy Road, Gilford, sometime between Tuesday, February 23 and Wednesday February 24.

Following a planned search by police in the Dromore area on Friday, April 29, a tractor was seized for further investigation.

As a result, the 20-year-old man was arrested on the morning of Friday, May 13 in the Banbridge area and subsequently charged. As is normal procedure, all charges are reviewed by the PPS.

Inspector McBain said: “This is an excellent example of proactive policing and shows the commitment of officers in the district to tackle agricultural crime in the local area. Annual Crime Statistics, which were published on Thursday, show that agricultural crime in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon district fell from 164 incidents in the financial year of 2014/15 to 91 incidents in 2015/16, a fall of over 45%.”