Man ordered to pay over £300k following ag machinery thefts
17th October 2025
A 27-year-old man from Somerset has been ordered to pay over £300,000 following thefts of agricultural machinery.
Harry Hollowell from Yeovil appeared at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday, 8th October, for a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing.
Hollowell had previously appeared at the same court in December 2023 for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen goods.
Back in October 2020, officers carried out a search warrant for stolen goods at a farm in South Barrow, near Sparkford.
They discovered and seized 20 stolen machines, with further machines since recovered during the investigation.
Hollowell had been purchasing farm machinery stolen from farm burglaries in the Sedgemoor area of West Somerset throughout 2020.
The investigation also found that he, with another defendant, had bought and sold stolen plant equipment taken from building sites in Cardiff in 2020.
‘Detrimental impact on the farming community’
Hollowell was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for these offences.
At the POCA hearing, the judge granted a confiscation order, and Hollowell has been ordered to pay £309,116.38, of which £53,958.32 will be paid to seven victims who did not have their stolen equipment returned to them or have an alternative compensation.
The remaining money will be invested back into the criminal justice system to continue to battle crime, Avon and Somerset Police confirmed.
Ch Insp Joe Piscina, the rural crime lead, said: “The theft of plant and agricultural machinery and tools has a detrimental impact on the farming community, who already work tirelessly to provide for our communities.
“Hollowell’s actions cost the victims thousands of pounds in time and materials, and it is brilliant that those victims will receive some compensation for their suffering.”
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