Shock rise in metal thefts across the region
Friday 27th August 2010, 11:30AM BST.
A shocking explosion in metal thefts has seen 600 attacks on homes and businesses across the Black Country in just seven weeks.
Today the Express & Star can reveal how thieves are exploiting lax laws that allow them to arrive at scrap merchants in taxis and even pushing their haul in prams.
Dudley is the area worst hit by thieves cashing in on rocketing prices of lead, copper and steel fuelled by a construction boom in the Middle East – as it emerged forklift trucks were used to steal £30,000 of metal from a firm in the borough.
Crooks broke into Dudley Electroplating on the Central Trading Estate in Shaw Road last weekend and stole 30 brass bars and 10 titanium cages, despite the cages being dipped in acid.
A £1,000 reward was put up today to catch the gang.
West Midlands Police figures released today show there were 598 metal thefts between July 1 and Tuesday of this week — up by 240 per cent from 176 on the same period last year.
Figures show Dudley has been hit 182 times since July 1, while Sandwell has been struck 181 times. Walsall and Wolverhampton police recorded 119 and 116 crimes respectively.
That means that in Dudley, more than six per cent of the recorded crimes were metal thefts.
Wolverhampton South East MP Labour Pat McFadden said today no other line of business would accept cash payments without proof of identity.
The law allows deals to be done without proof of ID, meaning crooks can quickly convert stolen metal into fast cash. Mr McFadden said: “This is a case where regulations need to be tightened to stop stolen property being passed on so easily.”
Dudley South Tory MP Chris Kelly added: “I support a strengthening of the law. It is a big problem and I will seek to take it up with the relevant Home Office ministers.”
Special investigation in Friday’s Express & Star.
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this has been happening for years now, policing the problem is all good and well now but just a tad too late. heres one to think about do you think if the police were actually present on the roads instead of traffic cameras, more of these thefts might be spotted ???
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Trouble is the few that steal make it hrder for those trying make a living at scrapping, those doing it legally should have a waste carriers licence.
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These scrap collectors are everywhere these days,just stand in my road in Walsall for a couple of hours and you will see at least 4 or 5,surely the police can work out that all they need to do is check the loads of these people,and at the same time check if they are claiming benifits too.
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The trouble with this crime is that the scrap yards are aware of the fact that a proportion of the goods are stolen but they carry on.
Perhaps if the police were to arrest people for handling & receiving stolen goods(i think this is still a crime) it may make yards think twice before taking it.If there is no market for it they will not steel it.
However this may be wishful thinking?
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Well i have stopped setting my alarm on a sunday morning as i get woke up every sunday with the scrap men hollowing that bloody horn.
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Stu Langford makes a good point.
There have been “rag and bone ” and “any old iron” men for years. The honest ones are actually way ahead of the recycling fad in that respect. If they ask, you say OK and they remove then good luck to them. They are turning our waste in to a useful commodity.
Of course this is the HONEST ones. The ones that help themselves and then flytip are not in this category.
Micky (nice log in) also makes the point that in order to make money they must be selling this to someone.
It might be difficult to follow every dodgy looking van around, seriously though, how hard is it to spot a scrap yard ?
Maybe as easy as spotting an old lady flocking ash on the pavement.
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Of course I meant flicking ash not flocking.
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We have several empty properties in our street and they have all been systematically broken into and ransacked, floorboards pulled up to access pipework, which is ripped out along with radiators, sinks and gas pipes, leaving running water pouring through the houses. One house, they have ripped the gas meter off the front wall to get to pipework, leaving it hanging off wall.
These people don’t care what damage they cause or the cost of putting it right. Put it right they do it again, so these houses are left empty and in a sorry state. This in turn makes the area look bad and devalues the rest of the houses nearby. And no I am not trying to sell mine.
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i am a postman and all i hear for 2/3 hrs a day(for 12 weeks and counting) is the scrap man, i hate him with a passion, you can bet your life most of them arent insured,dont pay taxes and are probably claiming some benefit…stop being scroungers living off other peoples rubbish!
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Most scrapmen not being insured just as likely as you burning half your letters, the other half end up getting delivered around 2pm nowadays – if you’re one of the lucky ones! Pull your finger out!
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Clearly the problem is the police.
If they took the time and effort to stop and check the dozens of light trucks and vans driving around housing estates they would get to know who is trading in these metals.
In Woodsetton we see up to ten scrap waggons per day – we never see any active police officers!
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I saw a Transit the same as in the pic above the other day with twice as much scrap on the back. So much it was struggling to get up a hill! It was totally overloaded and unsafe.
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Most of us are honest but if you turn up with a load of bright bar (brass or something like that) the scrapyard dealer knows its crooked, if i turn up with a battered ford pick up with £2000 worth of brass on it there will be something wrong. No one asks questions no one cares..
I haven’t seen brass in years, a bit of copper and some ally on occasion mostly light iron washing machines and bike frames (which i strip down and flog on) not much money in it unless you are a crook.
As for Ben i have insurance thank you, maybe you should try ear plugs, or getting a different job?
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it’s not a shock at all. My nan woke up to find men stripping the lead of her porch roof, apparently the vans that crawl round the roads are looking for metal to steal. Then later on, lads come back and remove it at night on bikes. They stash it somewhere and comeback another day to collect it. That way they’re never stopped on their bikes with it by the police.
Next time the vans go past your house, make a note of the reg number, let them see you doing it too.
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As a legitimate scrapman, you would be surprised just how many people actually stand at the window with a notepad and take my registration, I carry my own notebook and also let them see me writing down their address and car registration details, lol.
Just to point out, the legitimate scrap dealers are the ones that use annoying airhorns, the thieves don’t use airhorns as they don’t like to bring attention to themselves.
Most of the dodgy unlicenced thieves don’t use pickup style trucks anymore either as they are very regularly stopped and checked by police and so for this reason the thieves use transit box vans where you cannot see what is being carried.
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When I reported my brass door knocker being stolen, along with another three residents in the street, the Police looked at me as if I was off another Planet. Their attitude was as if I was wasting their time with a minor issue.
I don’t expect the Police to use foresight of course or look at piecing the little things together to make a bigger picture but a bit of respect would have been nice.
I accept, it’s not the biggest crime in the world but it’s the principle of it and the Police know there are lots of crimes related to metal but they just didn’t want to know.
I didn’t bother completing the forms as I was treated with contempt and as if I was the type of person that complains about anything,of which i’m not.
I’m in Walsall and if the Police in other areas treat other residents the same, then it’s no wonder this is getting out of control.
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yow yam yams am tit for tat ay ya
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