Four suspected teenage railway cable thieves were arrested on Friday, 17 February 2012 by British Transport Police (BTP) officers in Leeds.
The four male teenagers, one aged 15, the others 16, were arrested close to the railway line in York Road, Leeds, under suspicion of attempting to steal cable. Police attended the location after receiving a report from a member of the public that a group of teenagers were cutting up cable close to the tracks. On the arrival of police, the group fled, officers took chase and caught and arrested the four youths.
All four youths were taken to Stainbeck police station where they were interviewed by specialist officers from BTP’s dedicated cable team, Operation Leopard. They were all released on bail pending further enquires until 20 March 2012.
Officers also did house searches at a number of properties linked to the arrested youths and a number of items were seized and are being forensically examined.
Detective Inspector Mick Jackson of British Transport Police, said: “We are continuing to work closely with Network Rail and local police forces to tackle cable theft from the rail network. We also work closely with scrap yard owners to monitor any cable which is brought in and, with assistance from railway and telecoms experts, we can quickly identify if any of that cable has been taken from the rail network.
“The theft of cable has a direct impact on the everyday lives of the travelling public. It really is an attack on the community. Stealing cable is also an extremely dangerous act which is costly to the rail industry and to the many thousands of passengers who rely on the rail network across West Yorkshire.”
