Police on the farm box firebug case

Thursday 23 July 2015

Police are now investigating a spate of burnt out farm honesty boxes.

They have had reports about boxes burnt out in Trinity and St Mary – as well as the one in St Ouen that was reported in Bailiwick Express earlier this week.

States of Jersey Police Officers are working with the Community Policing teams and colleagues from Honorary Police forces to look into the fires.

They’re also investigating some bins that have been set alight in the countryside, out in St John.

Earlier this week, Bailiwick Express reported that an honesty box owned by the family-run Le Feuvre Farms in St Ouen had been set on fire.

Powell Le Feuvre said at the time that it was pretty rare to have any difficulty with honesty boxes, which are a long-time Jersey tradition.

He said: “On Friday night we think someone must have burned it out – we found it like that on Saturday morning when we went to fill it up.

“The posters had been lit and the box was burned out.

“The same box was broken into last year, when thieves used a crowbar.

“Over the last few years we have had just the one break-in, but we collect the money every night to remove the temptation.”

A Facebook update that the Le Feuvre’s posted about the vandalism went “viral” – with 190 “likes”, 627 “shares” and 157 comments by people saying how disgusted they were at the crime.