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Reece Gardner
Fed-up judge ‘rails’ at cable thief
20/ 8/2008
A THIEF who stole £500-worth of copper cable from the railway and sold it for just £50 was jailed for three years after it was revealed the judge had suffered regular train delays at the hands of similar crooks.
Reece Gardner, 41, from Ellwood Road, Offerton, was sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court after his crime disrupted 143 trains and cost Network Rail £28,000.
It was said of three men who stole the cable near Stockport station, he was the only one caught after being found with copper and a hacksaw.
And, despite a prompt guilty plea, fed up Judge Roger Thomas decided a message to must be sent to deter further inconvenience to his - and other commuters’ - journey to work.
He said: "I travel here daily on the trains and it has become a concern that stealing cabling is virtually epidemic. The train I travel on is delayed very regularly because people such as this defendant choose to steal the cabling. This sort of offence is happening time and time again causing disruption and inconvenience and financial losses to many people who travel on trains when they were anticipating they would run on time."
A stunned-looking Gardner was sentenced to two years for the theft, which happened on May 7, and a consecutive 12 months for obstructing the railway.
The court heard the alarm was raised when rail officials realised the signalling was not working. Police found Gardner and two others lurking by archways near the track. They ran off but Gardner was caught.
Brian Berlyne, prosecuting, said the incident caused at least 20 hours of delays on the line, which was finally reopened at 4pm the next day. And despite the cable’s value of £550 it cost £6,400 to replace.
Gardner later claimed he stole it because he thought it would fetch £40-£50 for scrap.
Defending, Steven McHugh, said: "He had no idea of the massive inconvenience he had caused to the rail network. The £40-50 pales into insignificance against the cost he caused to the network."
Speaking after the case, British Transport Police Chief Inspector, Steve Lewis, confirmed the estimated total cost of the crime was £27,939.
And said: "The theft of cable has become a priority crime for us. The value of copper has increased, making this crime more profitable. Far from being a victimless crime, it can cause hours of delays to the thousands of passengers. Stealing cable is extremely dangerous for those involved, they’re risking their lives. I hope that the sentence sends out a clear message to metal thieves that we are not going to tolerate their criminality."
Most recent 2 of 4 user comments
Abit stupid stealing stuff off the train tracks though, don't think he should get 3 years though
22/08/2008 at 10:53
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