The TV star warned the ‘late night raiders’ that farmers were armed – but it turns out he was not a victim of crime
He’s good at driving cars and even tractors – but it turns out counting isn’t Jeremy Clarkson’s strong point
Jeremy Clarkson’s 11 “stolen” sheep were not ever missing, Thames Valley Police have revealed.
The livestock had simply not been counted correctly by the celebrity farmer and his team at Diddly Squat.
Revealing the mishap, a spokesperson for the police force told the Mirror: “Thames Valley Police is no longer investigating a reported theft of sheep from a farm near Chadlington.
“Following enquiries, it has been established that no sheep were stolen. The report was found to be the result of an accidental miscount by farm staff, and all sheep have since been accounted for. As no offence has been identified, the investigation has now been closed.”
Jeremy Clarkson and Kaleb Cooper could only find 16 of the 27 sheep that were supposed to be in a particular field
Clarkson, 66, previously claimed that 11 of his livestock had been swiped in a late-night raid from his 1,000-acre farm in Chadlington, near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.
He said that when he and farm manager Kaleb Cooper had gone to count the flock, only 16 of his 27 Easycare sheep were still in their remote field. “I don’t even know when it happened. We came down yesterday, Kaleb and I, and actually counted sheep, which is quite difficult to do without dozing off,” he explained. “There are 11 that have gone missing from this field, and we think there are some missing from the other field.
“They were the breeding ewes, which is genuinely annoying. They are £205 each, so over £2,000 worth of sheep were stolen. It’s annoying and it’s happening a lot.”
He and girlfriend Lisa Hogan picked up the show’s NTA with other members of the team at the O2
The former Top Gear presenter issued an urgent appeal with the public, asking them to get in touch if they had any information about the missing flock. He declared: “To have animals stolen, it’s really galling. They were happy here. This is my favourite field on the farm. They have been taken, realistically. There’s no other explanation. There are no carcasses.
“We’ve been through the woods and there are no sheep droppings in there. They’re not in the woods. They’re not on the neighbouring farm. The only option left is that they’ve been taken.”
Thames Valley Police confirmed at the time they were opening an investigation. Clarkson said he’d rung them to say: “I know it’s going to sound like I’m from 1856, but I’ve had some sheep stolen.”
He also provided an update a few days later as he collected his National Television Award for the Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm, which is currently filming for a fifth series.
Speaking of the 11 missing sheep, he told reporters: “I think it’s a foregone conclusion that you probably ate one of them last night. There’s none on the farm and there’s no blood and guts, so somebody has stolen them and butchered them.”
And showing how annoyed he was, he added: “Farmers are armed … I don’t know why people don’t realise that..”
