Romanians jailed over railway cable theft in South Cheshire

Romanians who stole more than 200 metres of railway cable in South Cheshire and Staffordshire have been jailed for almost five years.

Constantin Trahimov and Daniel Nicula, both 21, pleaded guilty to theft of cables at Wrinehill, near Nantwich, and Seighford, Stafford.

Teodor Racila, 24, failed to appear at court and will be sentenced at a later date.

The court heard on September 12 last year Trahimov, Nicula and Racila were stopped by police at Hilton Park services on the M6.

Officers noticed rear seats of the car were in an unusual position and discovered a quantity of what was later identified as railway cable.

All four men were arrested and an investigation by British Transport Police found the cable had been stolen from the railway at two separate locations – Seighford and Wrinehill.

Police searched a house in Birmingham and uncovered invoices from scrap metal recyclers which showed the men had received almost £2,000 for copper cable.

Det Chief Insp Malcolm McKinnon said: “This sentencing brings to a close an eight-month investigation and demonstrates the British Transport Police is determined to tackle cable theft, will follow all possible leads and will not hesitate to put offenders before the courts.

“Cable theft has a major impact on the running of the rail network and it is clear, through the length of the prison sentence, that the court has recognised the severity of the crime.

“We have made good progress in relation to cable theft in recent months and have recorded significant reductions in offending.

“Metal, however, remains an attractive prospect for thieves and where criminals persist in targeting railway property, we will do all we can to trace those responsible and bring them to justice.”