A metal crook grinned as he left court after avoiding custody for loading a van with £8,000 worth of stolen copper.
A passing policeman saw 20-year-old Richard Smallman, from Tipton, loading a van with 180 copper tubes from a house in Hawthorn Road. They had previously been stolen from a German engineering firm delivering the cargo to a Black Country building company.
Yesterday magistrates in West Bromwich gave Smallman a suspended custodial sentence for handling stolen goods. He had pleaded guilty to the offence at an earlier hearing.
The court head Smallman, of St Mark’s Road, had given a false name and address to police after his arrest on March 19 this year.
Miss Sarah Jackson, prosecuting, said: “Eventually he gave his full details. He said he had been paid £200 to drive the van to Darlaston, but would not give the name of the person who asked him, and initially said he didn’t know it was stolen.
“It was shortly before 1pm on March 19. A policeman in an unmarked car saw the defendant loading the copper pipes into the back of a van. He then drove off and was stopped by police.”
She added: “The copper was recovered but it had been damaged. The company in England said they did not want to buy it anymore and the German firm had to take it back, melt it down and remould it.”
Miss Jackson added that it had cost around £1,057 to repair the copper tubes.
But defending Smallman, Miss Nicky Mondair, said he was a reformed character.
“His circumstances were very different then,” she said. “He has managed to find a job and he is trying to keep away from certain friends who he realised were causing trouble.”
Sentencing Smallman, presiding magistrate John Rock, said: “This offence is so serious that we have to consider custody.
“We are sentencing you to four months, but suspending that for 12 months. We are giving you a last chance.”
He was also ordered to pay £500 compensation.
Share this article:
What are these?