Thief stole metal to pay for house deposit

A thief stole thousands of pounds worth of metal from a Black Country firm to raise the deposit on a new home for him and his girlfriend, a court heard.

Leigh Clarke, aged 42, carried out three raids on Sims Metal Management, in Cradley Heath, between June 9 and July 9 this year, taking copper piping, brass fittings and scrap metal. The third raid was carried out when he was on bail.

He also damaged an oxygen ring used by the firm when removing the copper piping which cost nearly £5,000 to repair.

Clarke, of The Kingsway, Wollaston Farm, Stourbridge was on bail for breaking into a disused substation at The Hayes, Lye, on July 2.

Dudley Magistrates Court was told he and another man had climbed a 6ft security fence and 8ft wall to access the station.

They found there was nothing inside to take and when they left the building police arrested them.

Clarke pleaded guilty to three counts of theft and burglary of the substation at a previous hearing.

He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment suspended for 12 months, ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work, put under supervision for a year and told to pay £170 costs.

Mr Mark Cooper, prosecuting, said the firm had estimated the total cost of the metal taken to be around £2,000.

"Alongside the damage caused, the firm also lost trade because they were not able to use the oxygen ring for a time," he said.

"He removed the gas fittings from bottles using a knife and a spanner."

Mr Bernard Porter, defending, said for a long period Clarke had been homeless with a drug habit.

"However he has now turned his life around. He has a girlfriend and they have moved into a house together. However the tenancy is only temporary," he said.

"To move into another property they need a deposit and it was attempting to raise this money he committed these crimes.

"He fell into the trap of using the wrong methods to secure this money."

Chairman of magistrates Phillip Hannah said Clarke had narrowly escaped jail and said they had given him the "biggest chance of his life".

By Lee Watton