Metal gang's £81k haul in 36-hour Kingswinford raid
A gang of thieves stole 112 tons of steel worth £81,000 during a raid that lasted 36 hours at a Kingswinford firm, a court was told.
Three of those responsible for the burglary were today starting jail sentences totalling almost 10 years.
A metal merchant to whom part of the haul was delivered has also been locked up for two years.
The crooks struck "within minutes" of Midland Steel Sections on the Gibbons Industrial Estate in Kingswinford closing for the weekend and then took 36 hours to complete the theft, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
It appeared to be an "inside job" with no damage caused and the burglars knowing where keys were kept, it was said.
They ignored less valuable metal and used the company's overhead crane as well as two of its lorries to remove the haul.
Prosecutor Mr Darron Whitehead concluded: "It started within minutes of the gates to the targeted premises being closed for the weekend."
The two stolen trucks, weighing 32 and 26 tons each, were used to make five trips loaded with the stolen steel during the weekend of March 26 and 27, 2011, the court heard.
Around 63 tons of the haul, valued at £34,000, was delivered to the Oldbury Metal Recycling plant run by Lee Stanley in Parsonage Street, Oldbury, where it was discovered hidden under scrap metal by police after a tip-off a couple of days later. He had paid £12,000 for it, the court was told.
A further 47 tons of the stolen steel worth £34,000 was found in Manchester and traced back to EMR in Wolverhampton who had bought it from Jarvis Metals, a scrap yard run by Joe Jarvis and his family in Ennerdale Road, Shrewsbury, where it had been dropped off by the gang. He admitted making £1,000 profit when he sold it four days later.
Police recovered all but two of the 112 tons removed by the gang. The two DAF trucks, valued at £55,000, taken from Midland Steel Sections were found dumped undamaged with the keys in the ignition at Stafford Park, Telford, the day after the burglary.
Paul Hawkins, from Sedgley, who was the "go between" for the gang; Jamie Anslow, of Tenbury Wells; Nicholas Tawse, Newark, Notts and Lee Stanley, of Coseley were all jailed. Joe Jarvis, from Shrewsbury, was given a suspended jail sentence. Jonathan Bates, from Coseley, who was convicted of conspiracy to burgle, will be sentenced next month.
