Cable theft gang jailed

[38Cto15E]

This from todays Leicester Mercury

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co....-risk-jailed/story-18010574-detail/story.html

Cable theft gang who put lives at risk jailed

A gang of thieves who put lives at risk, crippled parts of the rail network and disrupted telephone services when they stole more than six miles of cable have been jailed.

Christopher Cruz (33) and his crew stripped more than 10,000 metres of copper wiring in a £700,000 crime spree across London, Hertfordshire, Essex, Buckinghamshire, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The thieves used a 4x4 to rip underground cable out through manholes and sparked fires near railway lines by cutting down live overhead cables.

They also cut off thousands of BT landlines by chopping away hundreds of metres of cable at a time.

Blackfriars Crown Court heard members of the gang struck twice in Rutland, breaking into a locked rail cabinet in Peterborough Road at 4am to get access to £500 worth of copper cable and then dragging 150 metres of BT cable from underground lines in Empingham.

"A manhole cover was removed, which was hazardous for road users," said prosecutor Richard Beynon.

"Cable was cut at the box end and pulled through the manhole at the other end.

"They used a 4x4 to drag the cable across the A606 into a field on the opposite side of the road where it was cut up."

This theft was discovered on June 27, and the gang struck again between June 28 and June 30 in Lutterworth, where more BT cable was swiped.

Mr Beynon said: "The impact of thefts of this kind to the public and staff has been significant, in terms of the financial cost and personal hardship.

"The consequences go beyond simple theft and pose a significant detrimental effect on the operation of the national railway network."

Most of the gang were rounded up on August 30, 2011, after a raid on a farmhouse where 455 metres of cable was recovered.

Christopher Cruz (33), of Mellow Purgess Close, Kris Kreuder (36), of Elizabeth Way, Shaun Nembhard (44), of Coopersales, John Michael Newton (36), of Newburyside – all Basildon, Essex – and Bill Lee (60), who is already serving a jail sentence, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal cable from the railway network.

Simon Scott (45), of no fixed address but from Leeds, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal railway cable. Cruz was jailed for three years and nine months, Scott for three years and six months, and Nembhard for two years and three months.

Lee was sentenced to two years' prison, in addition to a two-and-a-half-year sentence he is already serving, and Kreuder was jailed for one year and four months.

Sentencing for Newton was deferred until March.

Sergeant Joe McClenaghan, the investigating officer from British Transport Police, said: "These sentences show it is simply not worth considering stealing cable from the rail network.

"After gathering intelligence on this previously unknown group over a number of months, our officers were able to pinpoint the gang's movements and arrest them in the act."

Well done to the Old Bill.

 

[AlexS]

Clearly premeditated, obviously going to put people at serious risk of harm or even death, not to mention the massive inconvenience. The fact that some of them are already in prison suggests career criminals.

They don't want prison, they want a bullet between the eyes. They'll be at it again when they can, they've got years left.

 

[Requeststop]

Clearly premeditated, obviously going to put people at serious risk of harm or even death, not to mention the massive inconvenience. The fact that some of them are already in prison suggests career criminals.

They don't want prison, they want a bullet between the eyes. They'll be at it again when they can, they've got years left.

I know I am getting more and more reactionary as I get older but these sentences are of no deterrant and are way too light. With remission and time off for good behaviour, they will be out of prison from between a handful of months to a couple of years.

For the the BT Police spokesmen to say that "These sentences show it is simply not worth considering stealing cable from the rail network." for a
"£700,000 crime spree" does not help BT Police to control trespass onto the railways, and the consequent theft.

They should be made to serve a longer sentence and to pay back all the £700,000 plus the additional costs of prosecution, detection, payments to delayed passengers, and the cost of their incarceration. If they cannot pay, then take their assets away from them and their families, and if that does not pay back all the costs, then hard labour.

I am not of the flog 'em and hang 'em, brigade, but when I read of these very light sentences, it brings me a lot closer to them.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Look at the age ranges of the accused. All are in the "old enough to know what they are doing" age range. It makes you wonder what other crimes they have committed, noting the careful methodology these men used in the crime in question. Prison seems to already be known to one of the gang

I now await the usual cries of "unfair to them"..:roll:

 

[HSTEd]

This is inevitable, it is like piracy an economic problem and not a law enforcement one.

The copper is there for the taking and it is very valuable.

Only solution to the theft of BT copper is probably to simply pay the oft quoted ~£25bn to have every single house and business directly connected using fibre broadband.
Then the copper could be ripped out of the ground and there would be nothing for anyone to steal.

 

[broadgage]

This is inevitable, it is like piracy an economic problem and not a law enforcement one.

The copper is there for the taking and it is very valuable.

Only solution to the theft of BT copper is probably to simply pay the oft quoted ~£25bn to have every single house and business directly connected using fibre broadband.
Then the copper could be ripped out of the ground and there would be nothing for anyone to steal.

Copper cables for telephone or data could indeed be replaced with fiber optic cable which is of no scrap value. This is already being done both due to theft and to provide faster internet service.

Wont help with power cables though, these HAVE to be copper, or possibly aluminium which is also liable to theft.
Copper cables for power on the railway or elswhere are very attractive to thieves, and better security is of limited use, one simply cant watch or lock up every bit of cable.

I believe that harsher sentences for those caught would help a bit, but also IMHO we need a change in public attitudes to those who are killed whilst stealing cable.
Too often we hear "oh those poor kids, they need educating about the risks" after a thief is killed, rather than "ha ha, serves them right, bet they wont do it again"

 

[w0033944]

Our local BBC news ran this story (or if it wasn't, it was the jailing of a similar gang operating in some of the same counties), but the programme insisted that they took bot signalling and overhead cable. The reporter even stated that they pulled the cable down from the overhead supports.

Without wishing to cause anyone to post information that could assist a similar gang, how the heck would they be able to pull down 25kV AC cabling without being killed instantaneously?

 

[Buttsy]

I believe that harsher sentences for those caught would help a bit, but also IMHO we need a change in public attitudes to those who are killed whilst stealing cable.
Too often we hear "oh those poor kids, they need educating about the risks" after a thief is killed, rather than "ha ha, serves them right, bet they wont do it again"

That'd be a good trick, stealing cable once you're dead...

Sentences too light unless their assets and those of 'of age' immediate family have been seized to pay the victims/costs

Without wishing to cause anyone to post information that could assist a similar gang, how the heck would they be able to pull down 25kV AC cabling without being killed instantaneously?

Some materials do not conduct electricity.

 

[Nym]

There are some very easy ways to steal 25kV or 50kV cable safely. Will I post it on here, NO!

 

[w0033944]

Some materials do not conduct electricity.

I am aware of that, but it must still be a highly dangerous enterprise, given the voltage (and, I presume, ampage) involved.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

There are some very easy ways to steal 25kV or 50kV cable safely. Will I post it on here, NO!

I didn't expect you to, my question was partly "Is it possible?" and partly rhetorical.

 

[455driver]

There are some very easy ways to steal 25kV or 50kV cable safely. Will I post it on here, NO!

Oh go on, pleeeaaassseee.

I will give you half the proceeds!

 

[Bald Rick]

Not all parts of the OLE system are at 25kV of course. Although sometimes those parts are at 25kV, to the eternal regret of those who find out. Including, it has to be said, some people alleged to have been associated with these miscreants.

This news has just about made my decade. Two of these in particular have been suspected of being behind much more than they were eventually nabbed for. I have had countless weekends / nights wrecked picking up the pieces of a train service in Anglia after their work. Whenever these two were inside for other offences, cable attacks in our area dropped by more than half. BTP knew they were behind it, but couldn't pin it on them until they were caught red handed.

BTP have done an INCREDIBLE job behind the scenes in evidence collection over several years to get them caught and convicted, so huge thanks to them.

My only regret is that I didn't pop down to the court to give them a flavour of the sort of justice proposed by Romford depot.

 

[Greeny]

Without wishing to cause anyone to post information that could assist a similar gang, how the heck would they be able to pull down 25kV AC cabling without being killed instantaneously?

w0033944; It is possible but I won't go into how, I was once called to an incident on the 'Crack' Sidings at Edge Hill where that is exactly what they did. Worse, they left the OHLE in such a condition that it was left swinging whilst live about 6 feet from the ground and part of it was touching the ground whilst it was still live. If anybody that tells you that it will automatically trip if in contact with the ground, they are mistaken - I can assure you. That is why I have no symapthy at all with cable thieves. Apart from the delays, people could be killed.

G

 

[andyfrommk]

A few of the them local to me are also doing porridge

edit: just realised its the same bunch.

 

[DXMachina]

Its a shame that for reasons of public safety this cant be deterred by massively increasing the voltage.

 

[sidmouth]

Pity we don't have a "three strikes and you are out" policy. Might not be a deterrence but would at least stop the perpetrators re offending.

 

[jon0844]

Then the copper could be ripped out of the ground and there would be nothing for anyone to steal.

I wonder how much money would be made selling off the retrieved copper?

Imagine someone from BT Openreach trying to sell that lot.

 

[HSTEd]

Pity we don't have a "three strikes and you are out" policy. Might not be a deterrence but would at least stop the perpetrators re offending.

And then they will not come quietly when we catch them.

Three Strikes and your out is an insane policy.


As to power cables, they tend to be harder to steal than data cables for obvious reasons and aluminium cables have a far lower scrap value than copper.
Other than switching to fibre optics and aluminium there is not really much you can do.

 

[yorksrob]

If we let how "quietly" people may or may not come dictate what sentencing tariffs should be, there'd be no deterrence or justice.

I'm not a fan of a three strikes policy, but I would certainly like to see an offence of sabotaging the National infrastructure with long tariffs which would reflect the damage to the economy as well as the potential danger to the lives of infrastructure users, and which would, if nothing else, ensure that such people are behind bars for a long time.