Three TATA Steel UK employees who conspired with an outside man to steal tin ingots worth nearly £1.2 million, have been sentenced at Swansea Crown Court.

Thomas Ashford, 35, Richard Jones, 29, and Stewart Jones, 56 all worked at the TATA steelworks in Trostre, Llanelli. They facilitated access to the site for Matthew Membury, 32, on multiple occasions, and assisted him with the removal of tin ingots.

The ingots were then melted down and sold to scrap merchants.

Police were alerted to the activity and arrested Ashford, Membury and Stewart Jones as they attempted to leave the works with a quantity of tin on 11 October 2024.

When the vehicle was searched, three swords were recovered which Matthew Membury accepted were his.

Richard Jones was arrested at a later date.

Craig Harding of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “This was a carefully orchestrated operation which included the use of a fake TATA ID pass.

“The criminality was a gross breach of trust by those employed by the company, some of whom were in managerial or security positions. It cost the company more than £1m.

“The Crown Prosecution Service presented strong evidence resulting in guilty pleas from all defendants, who have now been brought to justice for their greed.”

The defendants were sentenced as follows:

• Thomas Ashford – three years and four months’ imprisonment
• Stewart Jones – three years and four months’ imprisonment
• Richard Jones – 20 months' imprisonment, suspended for 2 years, along with 250 hours of unpaid work and an electronically monitored curfew for 3 months.
• Matthew Membury will be sentenced at a later date.

The goods were not recovered, and lawyers will now consider further proceedings.