CABLES & CABLE ACCESSORIES
Prolifi c cable theft gang
Five men whose attacks on railway and communications cable across Hertfordshire, Essex, Leicestershire, Buckinghamshire and London cost almost £715,000 have been jailed. Adam Hewitt reports.
An
organised gang of cable thieves who carried out 47 attacks against the rail
network and BT communications cabling in the summer of 2011 are now behind bars.
Christopher Cruz (33) of Mellow Purgess Close, Kris Kreuder (36) of Elizabeth Way, Shaun Nembhard (44) of Coopersales, John Michael Newton (36) of Newberry Side – all Basildon, Essex – and Bill Lee, (60) who is already serving a jail sentence, pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to steal cable from the railway network.
Simon Scott (45) of no fi xed abode but from Leeds, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal railway cable.
Blackfriars Crown Court heard how the organised gang carried out the thefts at various times of the day between 1 May and 30 August 2011, stealing railway cable and communication cabling and costing Network Rail and BT almost £715,000.
This was the cost to replace and repair the cables as well as fi nes incurred as a result of delays, disruptions and cancellations caused to train operators.
British Transport Police (BTP) offi cers were fi rst alerted to the gang in May 2011, when Network Rail reported 400 metres of cable had been cut and stolen from the line in Chelmsford.
Other incidents across the railway in the surrounding counties prompted a major investigation by specialised BTP metal theft offi cers, who began patrolling the lines overnight, using both covert and overt tactics to track the thieves’ movements.
CAUGHT AND JAILED
On Tuesday, 30 August 2011, as part of a pre- planned operation, offi cers arrested three men close in Margaretting, Essex, in possession of a large amount of BT cable. The three men transpired to be Cruz, Newton and Lee. They were all arrested on suspicion of theft and their mobile phones were seized for evidence.
These arrests, together with a
detailed analysis and examination of their mobile phones, linked the three other men to the crimes. Using automatic number plate recognition technology, their vehicles, spotted at the site of a number of theft thefts, also linked them to the thefts.
received combined
All six men pleaded guilty to their offences at Blackfriars Crown Court on Wednesday, 2 January and at the same court on Tuesday, 29 January, fi ve of the six men custodial sentences of
more than 12 years for their involvement in the criminal activity.
Cruz was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison; Scott was ordered to serve three years and six months in prison; Nembhard was sentenced to two years and three months in prison; Lee was sentenced to two years’ prison, in addition to a two-and-a- half-year sentence he is already serving, and Kreuder was ordered to serve one year and four months in prison.
Sentencing for Newton was deferred until March, to take place following the conclusion of other unrelated charges currently under investigation.
From left to right: Bill Lee, Christopher Daniel Cruz, Kris Kreuder, Shaun George Nembhard and Simon Paul Scott.
Sergeant Joe McClenaghan, the investigating offi cer from British Transport Police, said: “These sentences show that it is simply not worth considering stealing cable from the rail network. After gathering intelligence on this previously unknown group over a number of months, our offi cers were eventually able to pinpoint the gang’s movements and arrest them in the act.
“We will continue to use
a number of tactics to crack down on this type of crime, which is anything but victimless, and we will do everything in our power to bring them to justice.”
Dave Ward, Network Rail route managing director for the South East, said: “These sentences send a strong message to anyone considering stealing cable from the railway.
“We cannot emphasise just how serious these crimes are. Cable thieves deny passengers the service they rightly expect and, through the massive cost to the industry, deny everyone improvements to rail services.
“We are doing everything we can to protect the railway and will continue to work closely with British Transport Police and other organisations to do everything in our power to deter thieves and bring those who attack our network to justice.”
Simon Davies, general manager for cable and payphone crime for BT, added: “This gang had complete disregard for the disruption caused to other peoples’ lives by their criminal activities, and it’s pleasing to see the court dealing with them in this way.
“BT is constantly collaborating with police to help bring cable thieves to justice and this is a good example of how effective that is.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.btp.police.uk/advice_and_information/ how_we_tackle_crime/
cable_theft.aspx
rail technology magazine Feb/Mar 13 | 65
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