Church Lead Theft

[MatthewC]

This sort of thing really is quite distressing for those concerned: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-45744381. How on earth did these people manage to remove so much lead? It was a really major job. One wonders if they had Smartwater on there.

I always think that, when they catch someone for this, they should charge them with causing criminal damage of (say) £100,000, rather than theft of lead worth (say) £20,000. Or are the penalties less for the former?

 

[paulc]

Theft would get you a maximum of 7 years. and criminal damage up to 14 years - Both would depend on severity and culpability. In reality, the the criminals would get a two or three year sentence, and get released after eighteen months.

If the scrap merchants buying the stolen lead were charged with handling stolen property, it might make them think again about accepting large quantities of lead.

 

[Owain]

How on earth did these people manage to remove so much lead?

When you see a "lead roofing repairs" van outside a church do you note the registration number and call the police?

The days when everyone in the community knew what was happening at the church, and the vicar lived next door, are long gone in most places.

But why didn't they have CCTV and alarms on the roof?

 

[Flyfisher]

If the scrap merchants buying the stolen lead were charged with handling stolen property, it might make them think again about accepting large quantities of lead.

When I took scrap lead (and other metals) to a local scrap merchant I had to provide proof of identity and address and they would only pay me by direct transfer into my bank account, by law, so in theory there should be an audit path for such disposals, rather than just pay out cash on the day as I believe was once the general practice.

Who knows how the perpetrators ‘fenced’ this amount of lead, but if they had set up false identities and passed themselves off as legitimate contractors I guess any scrap merchant would have a reasonable defence of not knowing the lead was stolen, providing they had indeed followed the legal requirements to check identities, because they themselves would also have been a victim of fraud.

 

[MatthewC]

If the scrap merchants buying the stolen lead were charged with handling stolen property, it might make them think again about accepting large quantities of lead.

When I took scrap lead (and other metals) to a local scrap merchant I had to provide proof of identity and address and they would only pay me by direct transfer into my bank account, by law, so in theory there should be an audit path for such disposals, rather than just pay out cash on the day as I believe was once the general practice.

Who knows how the perpetrators ‘fenced’ this amount of lead, but if they had set up false identities and passed themselves off as legitimate contractors I guess any scrap merchant would have a reasonable defence of not knowing the lead was stolen, providing they had indeed followed the legal requirements to check identities, because they themselves would also have been a victim of fraud.

Agreed. In my experience with a local scrap contractor, they take your vehicle registration and, I think, your photo as well. These people as you say must have somehow passed themselves off as legitimate.

When you see a "lead roofing repairs" van outside a church do you note the registration number and call the police?

<snip>

But why didn't they have CCTV and alarms on the roof?

1. Yes if they were stripping a roof I would! And if they were all on the roof I might remove their ladder.
2. Possibly because the roof is pretty high (judging by the photo) so any theft requires a remarkable amount of effort - 20 tonnes of lead is a huge amount, and the time it took would have been considerable.

They must have persuaded a lot of people that they were genuine contractors as the theft was so brazen - it's not a church in the middle of nowhere.

One modern issue is that thieves have been known to use Google Earth to find suitable targets. In the case of the church opposite my house this should help prevent any theft as it would be pretty clear to most people that the roof isn't lead (too shiny!).

Matthew

 

[Gareth Hughes]

If the scrap merchants buying the stolen lead were charged with handling stolen property, it might make them think again about accepting large quantities of lead.

When I took scrap lead (and other metals) to a local scrap merchant I had to provide proof of identity and address and they would only pay me by direct transfer into my bank account, by law, so in theory there should be an audit path for such disposals, rather than just pay out cash on the day as I believe was once the general practice.

Who knows how the perpetrators ‘fenced’ this amount of lead, but if they had set up false identities and passed themselves off as legitimate contractors I guess any scrap merchant would have a reasonable defence of not knowing the lead was stolen, providing they had indeed followed the legal requirements to check identities, because they themselves would also have been a victim of fraud.

Agreed. In my experience with a local scrap contractor, they take your vehicle registration and, I think, your photo as well. These people as you say must have somehow passed themselves off as legitimate.

No, straight into a shipping container and off to Harwich. Out of the country before anyone notices.

 

[Flyfisher]

I hadn't thought of that approach

 

[Flyfisher]

.