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.

The court heard that the defendants, all originally from Romania, had been struggling to find regular work and had taken the metal to make some money.

Chairman Mr Andrew Williams, sentencing, said: "There was an element of this being pre-planned, it was relatively sophisticated and you worked within a group. The offence is serious enough for a community penalty of 12 months."

Cordas, from Tower Road, Tividale, as well as Fortu, Stefan and Mihai – all from Gilpin Close in Hodge Hill, Birmingham – were ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

Prosecuting, Mr Kully Khaira, said 40 metal cubes, each measuring one foot by one foot, had been discovered by police on and around an adjacent canal towpath off Tat Bank Road following the incident.

He added: "The defendants all appeared to be dirty and three of them were wearing gloves, all of which have been seized.

"Later on in the morning a machine driver from LBS Ltd identified a quantity of metal cubes had been removed from the premises."

Mrs Pallo Dhariwal, defending Stefan Puscasu, said all the defendants had come to the UK very recently but had struggled to find regular work.

"They were working at a car valeting company but at the moment work is scarce," she added.

Mihai and Fortu, representing themselves and speaking through an interpreter, all apologised, claiming they had seen an opportunity to make some money.

Fortu added that he had taken part so he could buy some glasses for his son who needed a pair to improve his vision. The defendants were ordered to pay £80 in prosecution costs each. All the metal taken has been recovered.

A fifth man has also pleaded guilty to the theft and is due in court on January 9.