Romanian nationals who stole more than 200 metres of railway cable have been jailed for a total of almost five years.
Constantin Trahimov and Daniel Nicula, both 21, appeared at Staffordshire Crown Court for sentencing on Friday, April 19, having pleaded guilty to theft at an earlier hearing. A third man, Teodor Racila (24), failed to appear at court and will be sentenced at a later date.
The court heard that, on Wednesday, September 12 last year, Trahimov, Nicula and Racila – who were in a car with a fourth man – were stopped by police at Hilton Park services on the M6.
The officers noticed the rear seats of the car were in an unusual position and, after carrying out a search of the vehicle, discovered a quantity of what was later identified as railway cable.
All four men were arrested and British Transport Police (BTP) found the cable had been stolen from the railway at two separate locations – Seighford, near Stafford, and Wrinehill, near Crewe.
BTP on searching a search of a house in Norton Crescent, Birmingham, uncovered invoices from scrap metal recyclers which showed the men had received almost £2,000 for copper cable.
Detective Chief Inspector Malcolm McKinnon said after the case: “Through forensic examination of CCTV and other sources we were not only able to place Trahimov and Nicula at the scrap metal dealership, we were also able to say they had been in the area of the thefts at around the time the incidents took place.”
And in a separate case, two south Yorkshire thieves who stole cable from the line in Barnby Dun, Doncaster, costing the railway more than £31,000, have been jailed at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday, April 18. Two men attempted to cut railway cable from the line close to Thorpe Bank in the early hours of Thursday, September 6, 2012. After signal failure was reported to Network Rail, BTP officers attended the scene and discovered cable had been disturbed and cut in several locations.
on Saturday, 15 September, 350 metres of recently replaced cable was stolen from the line causing a circuit failure. The bill of replacing and repairing the damaged cable cost Network Rail in the region of £20,000.
Enquiries were carried out in the surrounding area and detectives found one of the men had attended a local scrap metal recycling dealer to weigh in the stolen metal. A police helicopter, in circulation around Norton, also found a quantity of cable in a courtyard on Station Road, another address believed to be used by the man.
A search of the two men’s homes uncovered items including cable sheathings and tools and cannabis plants being cultivated by artificial lighting.
Detective Inspector Stuart Mellish said after the Sheffield case: “BTP is absolutely committed to tackling metal theft in South Yorkshire and across the country. Officers will continue to work with the railway industry and Home Office forces to carry out joint operations at scrap metal dealers to interrupt criminal activity. However, we are not complacent and we will continue to work to bring those who work outside the law to justice.
“The foolish actions of these two men cost Network Rail more than £31,000 to repair the cable they damaged. I have no doubt that, thanks to the fast actions of Network Rail and officers swiftly attending the incident, the criminals were prevented from carrying out further attacks.
“BTP encourages people to continue to report any suspicious behaviour near the railway, or in their communities, to police so we can work together to drive this crime down further.”
And Phil Verster, Route Managing Director for Network Rail, said: “I am pleased that the court has recognised the seriousness of attacks like these upon our railway. Passengers and essential freight services in south Yorkshire were delayed by a total of 268 hours last year because of cable thefts. This is not acceptable. We are starting to see a reduction in crimes but cable theft remains a significant problem. We will continue to work with British Transport Police to find thieves and bring them to justice.”
