Thieving P****Y B'stards & Cable Theft

[Smiler.]

A little more than an inconvenience:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16173948

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-161637...


Time to come down harder on the scrap dealers?


(of course, the purps MAY not all be of the aforementioned group by birth, but their mentality certainly qualifies them)

[Podie]

I'm pretty sure replacement railway cable is tainted, to help track theives.

[Jasandjules]

Summary execution of those responsible for the thefts. Nothing less is reasonable.

[jmorgan]

Smiler. said:

Time to come down harder on the scrap dealers?


(of course, the purps MAY not all be of the aforementioned group by birth, but their mentality certainly qualifies them)

Should have happened years ago. And proof the cables is your to sell.

[Digga]

Until there is a law passed which adequately sets out how we are to deal with those parts of society who:

1. have no stake in society
2. make no contribution to tax or broader society
3. are involved in criminal activities
4. deliberately avoid the law and the powers of the police and MHRC

then there will be no progress on this sort of crime.

[AJS-]

The trouble is the very nature of the scrap business makes it impractical to regulate effectively. There's old bits of metal all over the place, in sheds, gardens and so forth that you couldn't possibly prove ownership of one way or the other. And there's also contractors who might have a few hundred pounds worth of legitimately scrapped cable off cuts at the end of the job. What could stop them throwing in a few other bits of scrap?

I would just go for proper sentencing in the first place. Any three crimes against people or property and you're going to prison for 25 years, no parole.

[Digga]

AJS- said:

I would just go for proper sentencing in the first place. Any three crimes against people or property and you're going to prison for 25 years, no parole.

I think a good number of the perpetrators could already be inconvenienced, were the extant laws on vehicle insurance and tax more rigorously applied.

[Smiler.]

Digga said:

AJS- said:

I would just go for proper sentencing in the first place. Any three crimes against people or property and you're going to prison for 25 years, no parole.

I think a good number of the perpetrators could already be inconvenienced, were the extant laws on vehicle insurance and tax more rigorously applied.

To whom could you possibly be referring?

[RemainAllHoof]

Simply make it more expensive to commit the crime (of accepting stolen goods). Massive fines that mean you have to sell your business if you cannot prove the metal you bought is legit.

[jmorgan]

AJS- said:

The trouble is the very nature of the scrap business makes it impractical to regulate effectively. There's old bits of metal all over the place, in sheds, gardens and so forth that you couldn't possibly prove ownership of one way or the other. And there's also contractors who might have a few hundred pounds worth of legitimately scrapped cable off cuts at the end of the job. What could stop them throwing in a few other bits of scrap?

I would just go for proper sentencing in the first place. Any three crimes against people or property and you're going to prison for 25 years, no parole.

I think there is a scheme in the valleys that has started and it includes taking pictures of the seller and the van. But how many people have a couple hundred meters of aerial feeder as thick as you arm or power cables in quantity (the sort that you find on the side of railways or in the bottom of the garden....). A lot of the stuff can hardly be claimed to be from the kitchen renovation. It aint perfect idea but its a start.

[JAHetfield]

I like how all scrap dealers are bad people.

I work in a scrap metal place. Obviously there are times when you are going to get caught out with your pants down but when you're at it for a while, you get to learn who the thieves are and who not to buy from.

Our local pleece department have started a handy service. When anything goes missing locally, we get a text/email to let us know what to watch out for. Then it's just a matter of keeping an eye out and writing down the registration of the perps if/when they come in with the gear.

Buying stolen metal is a waste of time. If the pleece come in and find it in your yard, they confiscate the goods so you're left out of pocket. It's not a risk worth taking.

[elster]

Podie said:

I'm pretty sure replacement railway cable is tainted, to help track theives.

It wasn't last week.

A permit to drop system could work, but would be expensive.

Edited by elster on Wednesday 14th December 13:41

[Buff Mchugelarge]

Our prison are already full, you'd have to work very had to actualy get banged up nowadays.

I once swept up the factory I was working at, and made a lovely big pile of Brass and copper swarf. So i bagged it up and sold it. I feel so dirty. Im a crimanal me

[Smiler.]

JAHetfield said:

I like how all scrap dealers are bad people.

I work in a scrap metal place. Obviously there are times when you are going to get caught out with your pants down but when you're at it for a while, you get to learn who the thieves are and who not to buy from.

Our local pleece department have started a handy service. When anything goes missing locally, we get a text/email to let us know what to watch out for. Then it's just a matter of keeping an eye out and writing down the registration of the perps if/when they come in with the gear.

Buying stolen metal is a waste of time. If the pleece come in and find it in your yard, they confiscate the goods so you're left out of pocket. It's not a risk worth taking.

I did not say scrap dealers were bad people, merely questioning making things harder to dispose of stolen materials.

I mean, it's highly unlikely that the perps are ever going to change their ways.


Out of interest, what checks do you make when a punter turns up with the bin full of SWA cable, or large copper or aluminium cores?

Have you had any experiences of buying such?

I only ask as I'm allied to an industry where legitimate scrap is generated.


Oh, and FWIW, you might get some stick for 'pleece'

[JAHetfield]

Smiler. said:

I did not say scrap dealers were bad people, merely questioning making things harder to dispose of stolen materials.

I mean, it's highly unlikely that the perps are ever going to change their ways.


Out of interest, what checks do you make when a punter turns up with the bin full of SWA cable, or large copper or aluminium cores?

Have you had any experiences of buying such?

I only ask as I'm allied to an industry where legitimate scrap is generated.


Oh, and FWIW, you might get some stick for 'pleece'

Honestly, sometimes it can be hard to tell if goods are legit or not. We're lucky in the sense that most of the people who come in are locals and we generally know their background.

We buy scrap cable direct from NIE so it's pretty easy to spot the difference in the cable off the poles and when a farmer is clearing out his yard.

[jmorgan]

JAHetfield said:

I like how all scrap dealers are bad people.

OK, hands up, guilty as charged on my part for my comment.

Edit but not meant to encompass all. I have spent time rooting around some scrap yards in me yoof.

Edited by jmorgan on Wednesday 14th December 14:13

[Digga]

One of the lads at my local bike shop used to work for one of the big scrap firms in the W Mids. the cash they turned over each day was staggering and gives you an idea of the scale of turnover in 'ad-hoc', non-business (ie. potentially non-legit) scrap.

He regularly paid out around £10k to £20k a day and often more. (Clearly not all of this was ferrous metals.)

[SeeFive]

Smiler. said:

I only ask as I'm allied to an industry where legitimate scrap is generated.

I didn't know you worked for Fiat.

[Smiler.]

JAHetfield said:

Smiler. said:

I did not say scrap dealers were bad people, merely questioning making things harder to dispose of stolen materials.

I mean, it's highly unlikely that the perps are ever going to change their ways.


Out of interest, what checks do you make when a punter turns up with the bin full of SWA cable, or large copper or aluminium cores?

Have you had any experiences of buying such?

I only ask as I'm allied to an industry where legitimate scrap is generated.


Oh, and FWIW, you might get some stick for 'pleece'

Honestly, sometimes it can be hard to tell if goods are legit or not. We're lucky in the sense that most of the people who come in are locals and we generally know their background.

We buy scrap cable direct from NIE so it's pretty easy to spot the difference in the cable off the poles and when a farmer is clearing out his yard.

I'm guessing that you don't have the sort of filth from the article above crossing your path then.


NIE - Network Operator? How do they present their scrap cable? Overhead stuff is very different to ground/underground cable. So they strip it of the insulation?


Also, for copper pipe - is it of any value if it has soldered joints (I have a load from re-plumbing the house last year).

[hidetheelephants]

Smiler. said:

Also, for copper pipe - is it of any value if it has soldered joints (I have a load from re-plumbing the house last year).

Yes; that's probably good for no.2 scrap, so maybe £1.80/lb or so