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Police find suspected spirits thieves hiding in haystack
North Yorkshire Police has arrested two people after they baled from a heavy goods vehicle laden with stolen gin, vodka and liqueurs and found refuge in a haystack.
On Saturday night a break in at a business in Barton-Le-Willows was reported by a member of the public, and so North Yorkshire Police went on patrol. They identified a heavy goods vehicle (HGV) and car travelling in close proximity together. The police tried to stop both, but while the four occupants of the car acquiesced and were subsequently arrested, the two in the HGV leapt from the vehicle while it was still moving and did a runner.
A police dog, named Rhun, and its handler then went in search of the two men, tracking them for 7 kilometres over field and woodland before finding them hiding in a haystack.
“Inside, was over £50,000 of gin which is suspected stolen. A gin distillery in Barton-Le-Willows contacted us shortly afterwards to report a break in via the roof,” a statement from North Yorkshire Police explained. “In total, six people from the West Yorkshire area, two aged in their 20s, three aged in their 30s and one in his 50s, were arrested on suspicion of burglary. They all currently remain in police custody.”
It has since emerged that the distillery in question was Sloemotion, and that the cargo also contained a number of other spirits.
The York Press reported that 7,000 bottles were taken, and the actual value was closer to £100,000. The thieves were able to remove the bottles from the warehouse by cutting a hole in the roof and hoisting boxes out.
A spokesperson for the distillery said: “Without the immediate support from North Yorkshire Police we would have been facing terrible losses.”
“We are shocked that this has happened to our local, community-based business,” they said. “We have been going since 2002 and we have never been targeted like this. It’s surreal and so upsetting.”
It is understood that the bottles are yet to be returned to Sloemotion as they are evidence.
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