CPS is getting tough on metal thieves

The Crown Prosecution Service is determined to get tough on all types of metal theft, a crime which has reached epidemic levels because of the soaring price of scrap metal.

Metal theft has hit railways, causing huge delays for passengers, seen villages cut off from the telephone network when cables are stolen and caused the desecration of war memorials. Churches have been badly affected because they have large amounts of metal easily accessible to thieves who often strip lead off their roofs. It undermines and damages homes, public buildings and businesses, whilst burdening taxpayers who are forced to fund, directly or indirectly, costly replacements.

When dealing with metal theft, every Crown Prosecutor has been issued with instructions to seek compensation for victims, ask the courts to confiscate driving licences and urge judges to seize offenders' assets. We will aim to use the whole range of criminal offences available against defendants, including handling stolen goods and being in possession of criminal property. Prosecutors will also ensure they highlight the wider impact of these crimes so that judges can take it into account when they pass sentence.

Sadly, these crimes are as prevalent in Gloucestershire as they are across the rest of the country and have included the theft of a bronze statue from Sandford Park in Cheltenham and damage to the war memorial in Prestbury when the plaque engraved with the names of the fallen was ripped from it.

A recent example is the case of Matthew Brown and Philip Robertson, found guilty of theft and criminal damage at Cheltenham Magistrates court on 21 February after a 1 day trial. The pair drove to Tewkesbury in two vans in the middle of the night and stole a large quantity of industrial copper cabling from Healings Mill. Unfortunately for them, they were spotted by a passing police car so they both fled over a footbridge onto the Ham, an adjacent flood plain bounded by the Avon and Severn rivers.

A Police dog gave chase, cornering both defendants at the far end of the field. They jumped into the river Avon to evade capture, swam across to the opposite bank (somewhat chilly in October) and ran off. The dog was taken to where they had climbed out of the river and eventually found them hiding under a table in a marquee in the grounds of a nearby hotel. They had abandoned their sodden clothes and had wrapped themselves in table cloths.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty, claimed they were on the Ham to scout for rabbits and had no connection with the vans loaded with cabling parked nearby. They told the court they had run off because they believed the police officers were a farmer with a rifle and a dog and they were worried they would get shot. Magistrates dismissed their explanations and convicted them of theft of cabling valued at approximately £10,000. Both are now waiting sentence.

It's not only the CPS who are cracking down on metal thieves. Police in Gloucestershire recently launched Operation Cuprum to target this area of offending, looking in particular at the activities unscrupulous scrap metal dealers. In January Theresa May, the Home Secretary, announced that the government would ban cash payments for scrap metal and remove the £1,000 cap on fines for offences under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act. We are going to make it harder for these criminals to get away with it.