Kent Police say Maidstone farms were among nine hit for GPS units worth over £170,000. Two men charged, in Crown Court today.

Farms in the Maidstone area were among nine targeted in a run of thefts of satellite navigation equipment from tractors and other agricultural machinery, Kent Police say.

The force puts the estimated cost of the stolen kit at more than £170,000. Two men have been charged with conspiracy to steal GPS systems and were remanded in custody ahead of a first appearance at Canterbury Crown Court today, Monday 14 September (Kent Police).

Officers from the force’s Rural Task Force identified the offences as a linked series. The force says enquiries into other possible offences committed outside Kent are continuing.

Where the thefts happened

Kent Police say farms in six parts of the county were reported to have been targeted during July and August 2026:

  • Canterbury
  • Folkestone
  • Romney Marsh
  • Maidstone
  • Sheppey
  • Thanet

The force has not published the individual farms or the parishes within each area, so it is not possible to say from the statement which Maidstone-area holdings were hit. The borough stretches well beyond the town, taking in the arable land and orchards around Marden, Staplehurst, Headcorn, Lenham and Yalding.

Timeline of the Kent Police GPS theft investigation, from the July and August offences to the Crown Court hearing on 14 September

What the force says happened

Kent Police set out this sequence in its own statement:

  • At around 1.55am on Sunday 16 August, a vehicle of interest was brought to a tactical stop after leaving the Dartford tunnel on the Essex side, having been pursued by Kent Police officers.
  • Two men were arrested and various items of GPS equipment were seized.
  • Further enquiries were carried out at a property in Dagenham, east London, where two other men were arrested and another GPS unit was found.
  • Ion Cojocaru, 33, and Iulian Doltu, 27, both Romanian nationals of Honour Gardens, Dagenham, were charged with conspiracy to steal GPS systems.
  • They were remanded in custody after a hearing at Medway Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 19 August.
  • The two other men arrested at the Dagenham property, aged 21 and 30, were released on bail pending further enquiries.

A charge is an allegation, not a finding of guilt, and the case is now active in the courts. Maidstone Live does not report court proceedings, and everything above is taken from the force’s published statement.

Why GPS units are worth stealing

Satellite guidance on a tractor or a sprayer usually runs off a receiver mounted where it can see the sky, and on many machines it lifts straight off. That is what makes it worth taking: it is expensive, it is not tied to one vehicle, and it is quick to remove.

Police Sergeant Ross Haybourne, of the Rural Task Force, said certain rural crime types increase in the autumn “when the evenings start to get darker and more farm equipment is in use”. He said the thefts have “a disproportionate impact on farming communities”, and that the task force also deals with plant and vehicle theft, poaching and hare coursing.

Alan Clifton-Holt, a Kent farmer and NFU Kent Council representative, is quoted in the same statement. He said rural crime “hampers food production and causes great worry”. Equipment theft, he added, “leaves a lasting emotional strain on those farming families affected”.

The law on marking this equipment has not changed yet

The government has had the power to require security marking on farm equipment since the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023 was passed. The regulations that would bring it into force have still not been made.

The government published its conclusion on 10 March 2026. It said three things that matter to anyone farming here (GOV.UK):

  • Removable GPS units are to be covered, defined as those “where the receiver is visible from the outside of the vehicle/machine when it is not in operation”.
  • Systems integrated into the cab are to be excluded, as less vulnerable to theft.
  • The requirement to fit immobilisers to new all-terrain vehicles has been dropped, over concerns about compatibility with vehicle type approval rules.

The same document says the Act “will not come into effect until the necessary secondary legislation commences”.

In other words, marking a GPS receiver is still voluntary, which is why the force’s advice matters now rather than later.

What it means for you

If you farm, contract or keep machinery in the borough, Kent Police’s own advice from this statement is:

  • Take the GPS unit off the vehicle when it is not in use, where that is possible.
  • Move machines into a locked barn or another secure location when they are parked up.
  • Record the serial numbers of every unit.
  • Mark your property, so equipment can be returned to you if it is recovered.

To report a theft in progress, call 999. For a theft already discovered, call 101 or use the live chat on the Kent Police website. This series was pieced together by the Rural Task Force from reports across six areas of the county, so a single theft reported in Marden or Lenham is worth logging even when the equipment is unlikely to come back.

Our other rural coverage includes the borough’s rural litter report and the 20mph zone proposed at Bower Mount.

Sources