Road check revealed wire theft

A Black Country scrap metal dealer was found to be carrying nearly three tonnes of stolen copper when he was stopped by police for not wearing a seatbelt, a court heard.

Renney Davies told cops he had just bought the metal wire from a dealer near Gloucester. The 44-year-old even phoned a man he said was the dealer on his mobile and handed it to police to verify his purchase, the trial was told. But further investigation revealed the dealer did not exist and the 2920kg load of metal had been stolen from a Forest of Dean firm.

Davies, of Smithy Lane, Brierley Hill, denied stealing the copper in December 2006. He also denied the alternative charge of dishonestly handling the copper knowing it to be stolen.

Prosecutor Mr James Cranfield, told the jury at Gloucester Crown Court an officer stopped a red Transit flatbed between Junctions 6 and 5 of the M5 near Worcester because the driver was not wearing a seatbelt.

Davies was given a fixed penalty ticket for the seat belt offence. But then officers asked him about his load and he said he had just collected it and would be getting an invoice for it.

Davies, a father of four who has worked in the scrap metal industry for four years, had told the jury he had been called by a mystery man who offered to sell him the copper.

They met at what Davies assumed to be the man's workplace. "If I had realised it was iffy, I wouldn't have touched it with a bargepole."

A jury at Gloucester Crown Court took less than an hour to convict Renney Davies of handling stolen goods. He was found not guilty of stealing the copper.

Davies was remanded on bail and was ordered to reappear for sentence on April 25.