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

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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)

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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?

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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'

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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).

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JAHetfield said:

........They generally bring old cable in on rolls. When it comes in in cut lengths, we start asking questions.

That's interesting, as the sort of cable the guys I know would have will all be legitimate off-cuts. Would you tell them to 'do-one' or ask a few questions?

As for the copper pipe, I have already cut off the soldered joints from the straight bits & have a box of each.

Some straight lengths 'might' still have a bit of solder on the odd end though, will this automatically relegate it to the lower value?

Also, are old valves, couplings taken in?

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karona said:

200 quid a metre for replacement cable, who are the real thieves here?

You speak from experience?

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hidetheelephants said:

karona said:

Smiler. said:

karona said:

200 quid a metre for replacement cable, who are the real thieves here?

You speak from experience?

Nope, the news article quotes 20 grand for 100 metres of cable. Someone's taking the piss at that price.

It's for a hospital standby generator, so it's going to be at least 100kW. Assuming that, the cable will be about 100mm2 and there'll be 3 of them all wrapped up in SWA so about 40mm or so in diameter. If you can buy that for less than £100/m I'd be surprised. Someone needs to be paid to come and fit it yesterday, so there's a premium there and it's probably on PFI so everything costs extra anyway. £20k looks about right.

Exactly!