Gardaí believe that a number of cattle feed barriers recovered from a Co Kilkenny farm may be part of what they call a “forced sale” scam by travelling salesmen.

Five feed barriers worth €1,500, along with their accompanying fittings, were believed to be stolen and gardaí had appealed for the public’s assistance to locate their owner.

However, with no owner coming forward in recent days, gardaí are now pursuing a different line of enquiry.

“There is a possibility this is a forced sale,” Paul Donohoe, sergeant in charge in Kilkenny Garda Station, told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“It happens when these salesmen drop something, usually field gates, in a yard that the farmer hasn’t bought or ordered. Then they come back a few days later looking to be paid for them,” explained Sgt Donohoe.

“They will do it to an elderly man and put pressure on him to pay up.

“The farmer is either afraid he will get a hiding or he will pay up just to get rid of them,” he continued. “It’s human nature to just want to get them out of the yard.”

The feed barriers in Co Kilkenny were discovered in a farmer’s yard and he subsequently reported them to the gardaí.

Despite appealing widely for a potential owner to get in touch, and contacting feed barrier manufacturers, no one has come forward yet to claim the five barriers.

“They are worth around €300 each so for no one to come forward is very unusual; that’s why we are investigating it as a possible forced sale scenario,” said Sgt Donohoe.

He said the farmer who reported the barriers had done the best possible thing by contacted the gardaí. He also reminded farmers that marking items like trailers with theft-deterrent markings such as the IFA TheftStop was very effective.

“I keep an eye on the Pulse system regularly and I never see trailers or cattle boxes stolen that have been clearly marked,” Sgt Donohoe pointed out.

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