Metal theft gang sentenced after raid

A gang who raided a business in the Black Country, stealing blocks of compressed metal worth hundreds of pounds, have been ordered to carry out almost 500 hours of community service between them.

The men were arrested last month as part of West Midlands Police's Operation Steel in the Langley area of Oldbury where they had made off with metal worth £1,500.

Alin Cordas, aged 25, Stefan Puscasu, 19, Mihai Puscasu, 32, and 29-year old Ionel Fortu, pleaded guilty to stealing the metal from LBS Ltd at Sandwell Magistrates Court yesterday.

The defendants were arrested on December 14 after a security guard had seen two men loading a shopping trolley full of aluminium blocks into the back of a van in Engine Street, Oldbury, just after midnight.