Gang plundered £3k metal from factory

A gang of metal thieves were caught red handed stealing £3,000 worth of steel from a Black Country factory, a court has heard.

Martin Graham and two other men were spotted loading the haul into the back of his Ford Transit, revealed prosecutor Ian Speed.

He told Wolverhampton Crown Court: "The three men were seen struggling with it as they carried it towards the van."

The thieves allegedly walked through an unlocked door into the George Dyke works in Doctors Piece, Willenhall on June 29. Graham, aged 44, from Commercial Road, Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, was recruited by the others to help remove the steel because he owned a van, the court heard.

"They intended to take it to sell to a scrap yard and share the proceeds, continued Mr Speed.

Jon Roe, defending, said: "He was asked to take part and accepts that he made the wrong decision by agreeing to do so. He went along with the suggestion because of his own financial troubles.

"There were no locked doors at the works and so they simply wandered in. All the stolen steel was recovered."

Graham was in breach of a suspended prison sentence imposed for a drugs offence in June last year.

He admitted the burglary of the George Dyke works and was jailed for six months for that offence with a further five-month term added from the suspended sentence, making a total of 11 months behind bars.

Judge Amjad Nawaz told him: "The fact that the premises were insecure does not give the green light to people like you to go in and steal."

The other two men have been dealt with separately at another court.

Metal thefts recently exploded by 20 per cent in the West Midlands with up to a dozen cases a day being reported.

Records show there were 2,793 lead thefts reported last year with targets including churches, schools and houses. This was compared to 2,463 the previous year.