Blowtorch phone gang caught
They have been dubbed the blowtorch gang for burning their way into a Black Country phone box in a bid to steal cash.
But partners-in-crime Daniel Sheldon and Neil Dale were today paying the price after being caught red-handed using a gas canister to burn their way through the metal of a BT booth in Wolverhampton.
The method has been well-used by organised gangs from major cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and London in the past.
But police say the dominance of mobile phones has meant that phone boxes have become less lucrative targets.
Sheldon and Dale, of Wheaton Aston near Wolverhampton, have now been banned by a court from every phone booth in Britain after reviving the scam with the aim of plundering a cash box in Himley Crescent, Goldthorn Park.
They were caught in the act by officers on routine patrol and have now been ordered as part of their punishment to pay compensation to BT and to each carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work.
Sheldon has also been forced to hand over his grey Ford Escort used in the enterprise to police.
Sgt Jon Jackson, of the road policing team at Bilston Street police station in Wolverhampton, said: "They attacked the box with the torch, and they were in the process of trying to remove the cash box when they were arrested.
"They'd just put all the equipment back in the car and were just about to prise the cash box off. It's something I've never come across in Wolverhampton. It's very rare."
Sheldon, aged 24, of Sowdley Green, and Dale, 22, of High Street, pleaded guilty to trying to steal the cash box at 2.20am on January 16. Both were given an exclusion order banning them from all phone boxes for 12 months.
They were also handed a 12-month community rehabilitation order with a four-month curfew order on top of the unpaid work and each told to pay £100 compensation to BT.
Sheldon was also disqualified from driving for six months for using a vehicle in the course of a crime.
He gave up his car after police won a deprivation order, which forces criminals to give up vehicles used in illegal activities. It will be auctioned off to buy new equipment.
Sgt Jackson added: "It's nice to see that the magistrates have supported us by seizing the vehicle.
"It's allowed us to prevent them committing this type of crime again."
By Crime Correspondent Mike Woods
