Youth fell 25ft as he tried to steal metal from Tipton factory
A teenager fell through a roof and two accomplices had to be rescued while they tried to steal metal from a derelict factory in the Black Country, a court heard.
Eleven police units, a police dog unit, two ambulances, an on-call doctor and a police helicopter were dispatched to the former IMX factory in Tipton, the hearing was told.
Mark O'Connor suffered severe bruising to his arms, legs and back when he fell 25ft to the floor, while Ethan Mills and Anthony Martin had to be brought down to safety by firefighters during the £400 call-out.
The three had been due to face trial yesterday, each charged with a count of being found in an enclosed yard for an unlawful purpose, but they changed their pleas to guilty at the last minute.
Sandwell Magistrates Court heard that a neighbour saw the men climbing over a fence to get into the premises in Whitehall Road at 7.40pm on April 3. The neighbour then saw them on the roof. Police were called and surrounded the would-be thieves. They were arrested at 9.20pm.
Mrs Helen Pinning, defending O'Connor, said: "He does accept they went out to see if there was any leftover cable in and around the building.
"The two young men who had to be assisted from the roof by the fire brigade did feel they could get down by themselves, but they were told by police to remain on the roof."
Mrs Pinning said O'Connor, who recently went to prison after a suspended sentence was activated for stealing metal at Wolverhampton University, was lucky not to have been killed when he fell through the roof. She said her client had become a different man since the break-in, and added that his girlfriend was due to give birth to his child in three weeks' time.
"He has grown up rather rapidly over the past few months." She said O'Connor had been offered work, farming in Cannock, and added: "He got more than his just deserts by falling 25 feet through the roof."
O'Connor, aged 19, of Droydon Close, Tipton, was ordered to carry out 150 hours' unpaid work and made to pay £150 costs, £133 compensation and a £60 victim surcharge. Mills, 18, of Claypit Lane, West Bromwich, was ordered to do 50 hours and pay £150 costs, £133 compensation and a £60 victim surcharge.
Martin, 20, of Bailey Street, West Bromwich, was given a conditional discharge and made to pay £150 costs, £133 compensation and a £15 victim surcharge.
