Two men who targeted rural areas to steal vehicles, tools and equipment have been jailed.

Bill Harber, 22, and Joseph Brazil, 19, were arrested in February for a string of thefts from farms and other rural locations across Sussex, Norfolk, Devon, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.

The pair carried out the spree between November 2023 and January 2024, totalling eight thefts across the south.

Three vehicles were stolen along with property worth more than £44,000, with rural properties in areas such as Rye and Bodiam being hit in November 2023.

Harber and Brazil, both from Holwell Place, Essendon in Hertfordshire, were remanded in custody after their arrest and appeared at St Albans Crown Court where they were each sentenced to two years and six months in prison.

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The investigation was led by Hertfordshire’s Specialist Investigations Team and assisted by police forces including Sussex Police’s criminal investigations department.

Sergeant Carlo Leone, formerly of the Sussex Police’s rural crime team, said such thefts had a damaging impact on farms and rural properties.

He said: “These are hard-working people who are already facing significant financial struggles with soaring production costs.

“The theft of tools, machinery or equipment that is necessary for carrying out their work could be the difference between staying afloat or losing their business and home.

“There is also the hidden impact - ultimately it affects the price of food on our tables. Sussex Police recognises these issues and utilises both their dedicated Rural Crime Team and Neighbourhood Policing Teams to engage with the rural community, make real relationships, develop intelligence and offer reassurance patrols for people who often feel isolated and vulnerable.

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“Our rural crime team in particular is constantly patrolling the countryside proactively stopping suspicious people and vehicles, and developing excellent working partnerships with other forces, partner agencies and community groups to ensure that we as police know what is going on in the countryside.

“This knowledge is constantly utilised by ourselves and our partners - on this occasion Herts Constabulary – to great effect.

“All of this proactive action ultimately makes Sussex a very hostile place to operate and those thinking of coming to rural Sussex to commit crime should be under no illusions that our ability to identify suspects and capture them no matter where they are in the country is alive and real.”

Detective Constable George Lewin, from Hertfordshire Constabulary’s specialist investigations team, said: “Harber and Brazil went on a prolific crime spree, targeting remote rural locations and stealing vehicles, tools and equipment worth thousands of pounds.

“Their offences had a serious effect on the lives and businesses of dozens of people, especially in rural communities, not to mention the resources required to run investigations across several police forces.

“Investigating rural crime is particularly difficult and I’d like to thank the victims and our partners, particularly Sussex Police, for the excellent support provided in bringing these offenders to justice”.