Tack thieves 'motivated by illegal gain' plead guilty

Two men have admitted four counts of stealing tack – and two of handling stolen items - from shows last year

- ELEANOR JONES

TWO men who stole and handled tack stolen from shows “thought they were untouchable” but had no option but to plead guilty, police said.

Jamie Aston, 32, and Kieran Quinn, 36, appeared at Chester Crown Court on 8 August and pleaded guilty to four counts of theft and two counts of handling stolen goods. The pair, both of Arthur Street, Blaengwynfi, admitted the thefts, from Bolesworth in July last year, and handling stolen tack from Weston Lawns in April 2022 and the David Broome Event Centre last July.

H&H reported last year that Ibi Whatley and Wayne Garrick, whose saddles worth a total of about £30,000 had been stolen at another show, were calling on the horse world to unite to defeat tack-stealing “scumbags”. Only one of these saddles has been recovered and no one has been charged in relation to these thefts.