‘Sweaty’ thief caught with stolen cable in car
A THIEF was found by police “sweating heavily” in a car after stealing £2,000worth of electrical cable.
Stephen Kelly sneaked into Northumberland Energy Park, a disused electrical distribution system, in the Blyth area and helped himself to 80m of wire.
But the 22-year-old was caught in the act moments later when British Transport Police stopped the car he was driving in the early hours of the morning and found the stolen goods in the back, a court heard.
Kelly, of Queen Street, Ashington, has now been ordered to stay indoors between 8pm and 6am for six months after he was given a curfew at South East Northumberland Magistrates’ Court. Kelly admitted one count of theft relating to the incident on September 5.
Ami Dodd, prosecuting, said a British Transport Police officer had been on duty and driving along Harbour View, in the Blyth area, when he saw an unknown male run across the road and disappear through a gap in some fencing that led into a disused electrical distribution system.
She added: “After making further enquiries, the officer located a Ford Fiesta and the defendant was sitting in the vehicle.
“He was sweating heavily. There was 60m to 80m of heavy cable crammed into the back of the Fiesta.”
The court heard the cable had been “unprofessionally cut up” and damaged beyond repair.
Paul Dunn, mitigating, said: “Others were involved in this and they got away from the scene. He would not assist police with that for fear of repercussions.”
Also ordering Kelly to pay £500 compensation, District Judge Begley said he felt a community sentence with a curfew would be appropriate as Kelly was out “skulking in the early hours”.