Two third of Irish farming families have been victims of agricultural crime, according to a survey carried out by researchers from the Waterford Institute of Technology.

The National Agriculture Crime Survey heard from 861 respondents between 1 January 2014 and 31 May 2016. It found that 565 respondents were victims of agricultural crime, with 349 victims of more than one crime.

Vandalism, criminal damage and trespassing was the largest category of crime recorded in the survey, defining 47% of the 1,512 incidents recorded.

Theft accounted for 43% of the incidents recorded, while criminal assault and fraud both made up 5% of the crimes reported by survey respondents.

“The results of the survey reveal that the issue of agricultural crime is a far bigger one than official garda statistics would suggest. They would also suggest that the courts have adopted a far too lenient approach to offenders, particularly to repeat offenders,” commented ICSA president Patrick Kent.

Further coverage of the National Agriculture Crime Survey will follow on www.farmersjournal.ie and in next week’s edition of the Irish Farmers Journal.

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