A father has walked free from court after being cleared of prising treasured plaques bearing the names of fallen war heroes from a memorial.

Anthony Craig Mellor, aged 28, of Gordon Road, Pedmore, was found not guilty by a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court of theft and handling stolen goods after three hours of deliberations.

But just minutes later his older brother Mark Mellor, 29, was in the dock after admitting he sold the plaques on, having dishonestly received them in January this year.

Father-of-one Anthony Mellor maintained throughout his two day trial that he was at home with his partner when the plaques were taken from Stevens Park, Quarry Bank.

Read the full story in today’s Express & Star.

A father has walked free from court after being cleared of prising treasured plaques bearing the names of fallen war heroes from a memorial.

Anthony Craig Mellor, aged 28, of Gordon Road, Pedmore, was found not guilty by a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court of theft and handling stolen goods after three hours of deliberations.

But just minutes later his older brother Mark Mellor, 29, was in the dock after admitting he sold the plaques on, having dishonestly received them in January this year.

Father-of-one Anthony Mellor maintained throughout his two day trial that he was at home with his partner when the plaques were taken from Stevens Park, Quarry Bank.

As the jury read their not guilty verdicts, Mr Mellor turned to them and said “thank you” before taking a seat in the public gallery to watch his brother’s case.

Mark Mellor, of Furlong Court, Colley Gate, admitted his involvement in the callous crime before his brother’s trial began on Monday.

But while jurors heard Mark Mellor’s name during the proceedings, they were not made aware he had already admitted his part in the crime.

He appeared again yesterday for a trial of issue to discuss his basis of plea.

Mellor, who was remanded in custody at an earlier court appearance, admitted selling the treasured plaques to a scrap yard in Lye after dishonestly receiving them.

But he maintains that it was not him who prised them from the memorial.

The Crown Prosecution Service agreed to accept his plea on that basis and he will be sentenced at Wolverhampton on October 1. He will remain in custody in the meantime.

The plaques formed part of a memorial to servicemen from the Quarry Bank area who were killed during the First and Second World Wars.

Five of the plaques were torn from the World War II memorial and one was prised from the World War I tribute.

A further two plaques and the wall on which the tributes were mounted were damaged in the theft which happened some time over night between January 29 and 30.