Jail for metal thieves

Those who have visited this blog in the past will be aware tht I regard metal theft of one of the curses of modern society and have been a strong supporter of effective action against the gangs and the people who buy stolen metal from them.

So I was pleased to see the ringleader or a major metal theft gang, who operated on what was described as an "industrial scale," and three of his associates given prison terms.

Birmingham Crown Court heard how the conspiracy was uncovered in June 2011 when West Mercia Police, assisted by BT, began investigating the activities of 48-year-old Gary Kitchin.
It was discovered that, despite not working or claiming benefits, Kitchin had more than £120,000 in various accounts, a mortgage-free property in Ledbury, Herefordshire, a part share in a property in Weymouth and an apartment in Spain.
Kitchin was found to be organising the theft of infrastructure cable belonging to utility companies in several Midlands counties which he sold on to scrap dealers across the region. Between October 2010 and July 2011, he was paid a very large amount in cash from one Gloucestershire dealer alone, the majority of the proceeds coming from stolen copper cable.
 
The court heard how during this period he recruited a workforce to extract miles of redundant BT underground cable at night using a 4x4 vehicle. Remnants of sheathing from BT cabling, together with copper cable and tools, were found at an address at Welland, Worcestershire.
Following evidence provided to the court by BT, all the defendants eventually pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal.
Kitchin was sentenced to 38 months imprisonment for conspiracy to steal and 12 months to be served concurrently for money laundering. A hearing is scheduled for later this year to retrieve assets from him under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Other gang members appearing with Kitchin were Simon Beardsley, 49, who was sentenced to 28 months imprisonment; Gareth Spooner, 30, who was sentenced to 27 months; and Alex Carr, 29, who was sentenced to 18 months.
Kevin Brown, BT Security general manager for corporate investigations, said: “BT has worked closely with West Mercia Police on this investigation, providing intelligence and evidence to assist with the police’s operation. We use many security measures to tackle cable crime and supporting police force visits to scrap metal dealers. We will continue to work with police and do everything possible to catch cable theft criminals.”

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