A gang of thieves who stole BT communications cable that was marked with a forensic liquid have been sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
The three men are the first thieves to have stolen BT cable and subsequently be convicted as a direct result of forensic evidence provided by ‘SmartWater’, which was rolled out across the communications network in 2010.
Kristopher Huckle received an 18 month prison sentence, whilst his two accomplices were given 12 months imprisonment suspended for 2 years. They were also ordered to carry out 120 hours of community service and placed under a strict curfew for 4 months, during which time they will wear electronic tagging devices. In the past metal theft has been viewed by criminals as low risk however the severity of this sentencing, which took into account the disruption to local communities caused by the theft, represents a major shift in the way metal thieves are dealt with in Court. This is likely to have major repercussions across the criminal underworld and act as a significant deterrent to other would-be thieves.
The gang stole a large quantity of copper wiring from privately owned ground within the Dagenham area in July 2010. The theft caused massive disruption to local communities and business, which lost access to telephone and broadband services for several hours, cutting people off from emergency services.
Despite being caught by Police officers close by to where the theft occurred, the men stated that they had been employed to legitimately remove the cable by an unknown person. Historically this would have presented the Police with the problem of proving where the cable had come from, however this particular cable had been forensically treated with SmartWater, a forensically coded liquid that is virtually impossible to remove and can only be seen under UV light. SmartWater contains a unique chemical code so anything marked with it can be traced back to a particular location.
The cable was subsequently sent away for forensic examination, which confirmed that it was stolen. The SmartWater evidence was the only prosecution evidence presented in Court, with all three men choosing to plead guilty to a charge of theft.
The theft of metal remains an international problem with unprecedented demand from the Far East pushing up worldwide prices of metals such as copper and lead to an all time high. This organised attack on the telecommunications infrastructure is supported by unscrupulous scrap metal dealers fuelling the crime by not conducting the proper checks and records required by law. However the communications and utilities networks are fighting back with many of them now using SmartWater as a way of both protecting their assets and linking criminals to crime scenes.
Regular checks at scrap metals dealers and recycling centres now take place across the UK involving police, the Network Integrity Unit within BT’s Openreach division, and SmartWater investigators. This will continue to increase pressure on the criminal fraternity and make it more difficult for thieves trying to sell on stolen metal and cable.
Head of Security for Openreach, Bernie Auguste, said: “We are increasingly using new methods to fight back against criminals who target our network and cause inconvenience and disruption to customers. SmartWater is a valuable technology which allows us to do just that. This is the first case where SmartWater evidence has allowed us to prove precisely where cable was stolen from, leaving the thieves with no deniability”.
SmartWater Chief Executive Phil Cleary, said: “We will continue to work closely with BT, the police and their partners, as well as the scrap metal and recycling sectors to tackle metal and cable theft. SmartWater has developed a long term strategy to combat this type of crime and will see the deployment of an array of sophisticated products and crime prevention measures to ensure we keep criminals on the back foot”.