A Co Kerry contractor’s stolen John Deere tractor and 2,000 gallon slurry tanker were recovered by the PSNI and returned to him this week.

The stolen items were found around 5km across the border near the village of Keady, Co Armagh, some 350km away from the yard the tractor was taken from a week earlier.

The PSNI has confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that a 30-year-old male has been charged with handling “property stolen in the Republic of Ireland” and that the charge relates to the recovery of a tractor and tanker.

The individual is expected to appear before the courts in Armagh later this month.

The PSNI stated that its Armagh neighbourhood policing team had worked in conjunction with the local community and an Garda Síochána to locate the stolen tractor, before a warrant was obtained.

A driver for the Kerry contractor had posted details of the theft on social media, where members of the public reported to him sightings of the outfit on the move.

Spotted

The tractor was reportedly spotted in Adare, Co Limerick; Athlone, Co Westmeath; Ballymahon, Edgeworthstown and Granard, Co Longford and Castleblaney, Co Monaghan, on Monday as it travelled towards the border.

“Without Facebook, it wouldn’t have been found.

“We had to have it up quickly or else there would have been no chance of finding it,” the worker told the Irish Farmers Journal.

The driver also said that his efforts to track the outfit were helped by there being few tankers on the road, due to the theft occurring during the closed slurry period.

Similar incident

A separate Massey Ferguson tractor and slurry tanker were reported stolen last week from the Loughall Road outside Armagh town – around 10km from Keady, where the Co Kerry items were recovered.

The Massey Ferguson and its tank were recovered by gardaí in the Castleblaney area of Co Monaghan on Friday 13 January.