1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190 
Metal has magnetic appeal for thieves says new squad
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
The police squad set up to combat soaring truck crime in the West Vlidlands warns metal is at the top of the thieves' wish list. Guy Sheppard reports.
A NEW police squad dedicated to tackling truck crime in the West Midlands believes a handful of criminals are behind most major thefts in the region.
Superintendent Andy Bebbington, who oversees Operation Indicate, says the main targets are loads of steel and aluminium, but some other metals are far more valuable — last week a Wolverhampton-based Coniston Freight truck was hijacked with a £170,000 load of nickel.
"A number of people have been doing this over a period and made some money out of it and then drawn in some others," says Bebbington. "It's probably a dozen people who are responsible for the vast majority of it."
He adds Indicate, which was launched last month,is focusing on incidents where trucks are stolen for their loads, rather than 'slash and grab' raids on curtainsiders.
Earlier this month Bebbington met representatives from several trade associations to discuss what the industry needs to do to counter the theft problem which has pushed the region to the top of the national truck crime league (CM 13 May).
Terry Sargeant, chairman of the Aluminium Stockholders Association,attended the meeting. He says six loads have been stolen over the past two months while being delivered to his company in Cradley Heath.
"The scrap value is £1,000 tonne," he reports.-These guys are sophisticated operators and can strip off a load within an hour."
He wants courts to issue tougher sentences, claiming offenders are getting 18-month jail sentences for stealing a 23tonne load, while someone who robbed a bank of £20,000 would receive at least seven years.
Bebbington also wants insurance companies to take a tougher stance on operators who ignore advice to use secure truck parks.