Man who tried to steal cable from pylon pleads guilty

Man who tried to steal cable from pylon pleads guilty

A man who tried to steal cable from a pylon in Middleton has pleaded guilty to attempted theft and damaging property.

Desmond Braidy, 43, of no fixed abode caused £100,000 worth of damage while trying to steal a piece of cable worth just £100.

He will be sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on 13 February 2012.

After identifying that a series of cable thefts were linked, police worked closely with the National Grid as part of Operation Alloy, Greater Manchester Police’s crackdown on metal theft.

On 21 August 2011, data readings suggested that a cable had been tampered with on a pylon at Heaton Farm off Heywood Old Road in Middleton. Officers quickly attended the scene and arrested Braidy while he was trying to steal the cable.

Superintendent John Graves of Greater Manchester Police’s Rochdale Division said: “Thanks to some sterling work by Sergeant Nick Galgani and his team, we were able to bring this offender to justice. We are continuing to work closely with the National Grid, and officers have now plotted the locations of all pylons and substations in the borough to ensure that any future incidents are rapidly dealt with.

“Metal theft isn’t just about criminals targeting electric and telecoms cabling and metal from the rail and tram infrastructures. Thieves also target ordinary people in their homes by stealing copper piping and boilers from heating systems and lead from roofs. These crimes cause misery and hardship for often vulnerable people, and we are targeting metal thieves in scrap yards, on the roads as they transport stolen metals and in the communities where they operate.

“We’re also helping scrapyards to introduce measures to detect and deter people offering them stolen metals. These include CCTV surveillance, taking still pictures of all site visitors and training staff to recognise cabling that has been taken from telecoms providers or metal that has been stolen from train and tram networks. New stock recording procedures can also make it easier to identify who metal has been bought from, and all metal offered to yards can be scanned for security marks.”

Police are also reminding thieves that the scrap metal they steal may not be worth nearly as much as they think.

Earlier this month at least 75 gulley lids were stolen in Heywood and Middleton. They are each worth no more than £5, but criminals think they are worth up to £60.

They are therefore going to great lengths, and taking huge risks by tampering with pylons, for relatively low reward.

To deter criminals, missing gulley lids are usually replaced with plastic or ductile versions that are virtually worthless as scrap.

To help police put metal thieves behind bars, report any suspicious activity on 101, the new national non-emergency number, or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.