A man has been jailed after being caught trying to sell stolen lead that had been marked with SmartWater by Torfaen council.
Craig Guest, aged 24, appeared at Newport Magistrates Court along with Kyle 18-year-old Kyle Raybould after the pair pleaded guilty to stealing lead from the roof of Pontypool Indoor Market and the Jubilee Centre. The pair were joined in the dock by 34-year-old Claire Lane who had driven them to a scrap yard. It was accepted that she played no part in the theft of lead but she was arrested and charged with drink driving after tests showed she was almost twice the legal limit when stopped by police.
Prosecutor Rob Simkins told the court how police had been carrying out an operation at a Pontypool scrap yard accompanied by SmartWater investigators who scanned the metal with a UV light, and immediately detected traces if the forensic liquid. Guest and Raybould were immediately arrested and taken to Newport central police station.
There, the pair, who were unaware the metal had been marked with SmartWater, denied stealing it and said they had been given the lead by one of their fathers. Samples of the lead were sent for analysis at SmartWater’s forensic labs where scientists were able to confirm it had come from Pontypool Indoor Market. Footprint evidence later taken from the Market was also linked to Guest.
Guest, who had 11 previous convictions, was given a 22 week custodial sentence for the theft of lead from the market and a 10 week sentence for stealing lead from the Jubilee Centre. Raybould was given a 12 month community order. He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work, pay £500 in compensation and contribute £100 towards court costs. Lane was disqualified from driving for three years and placed on a 12 month supervision order.
Cllr John Cunningham, Torfaen’s executive member for Neighbourhood Services, said: “We are delighted with the sentences handed to these metal thieves and hope it sends a strong message to anyone else considering committing these selfish crimes. Any potential metal thieves should know that all our property is marked with SmartWater and this includes our buildings, our computers, our equipment, machinery and tools”