Digger worth £22,000 stolen from Drumquin company

A DRUMQUIN waterworks company has been left reeling after thieves struck for the second time in 18 months, stealing a £22,000 digger from a site outside Tempo.

For Eamon Teague and Danny Poyntz of Water Worx, the theft adds to an already crippling bill – their first digger, worth £24,000, was stolen in west Belfast last year and never recovered.

“It’s always the hardworking taxpayer that gets targeted, and there are no consequences for the thieves,” said Eamon. “The whole thing is just so demoralising.”

Police confirmed that the Hitachi 33u-5 digger was taken from a site on the Fivemiletown Road sometime between 4pm last Thursday, and 7.30am the next morning.

The financial impact, however, stretches far beyond the £46,000 lost. “Our insurance is going to skyrocket. After this theft we’ll be paying it off for five years,” Eamon said.

“And because we can no longer risk leaving equipment on site, we now face the added cost and lost time of moving machines on lorries every day. It’s eating into everything.”

The Drumquin men’s frustration is echoed across Tyrone, where rural thefts have escalated in recent weeks, from stolen quads in Drumquin to tools in Newtownstewart.

“One of the policemen I spoke to said the amount of rural crime they’ve seen recently has been unreal,” Eamon added. “But there’s no deterrence. When have you ever seen meaningful consequences for these kinds of thefts? At best it’s a slap on the wrist.”