METAL THEFT: MP Jones outlines new bill to tackle metal theft

Dec 02, 2011 | 11:02 AM |

A private members’ bill tabled in the UK House of Commons last month will propose harsher sentencing for scrap metal thieves and make enforcement of the law easier, MP Graham Jones, who introduced the bill to the House, told Metal Bulletin.

“The best way to look at the current law is that it’s like a Swiss cheese. It has so many holes in it that it’s difficult to enforce,” Jones said. “The new regulations will put in more robust sentencing for those caught stealing and also tighten some loopholes that exist.”

The issue of scrap metal theft is not a new one. Metals recyclers have been dealing with it for as long as they’ve been in business, but there is no doubt that the incidence of theft is increasing, as well as the sophistication of the methods used by the thieves.

When introducing his bill, Jones pointed to thefts from network rail companies that saw the volume of such incidents increase seven-fold between June 2009 and June 2011. There is now an average of eight metal thefts per day of network rail property, while 50 serious injuries and six deaths have been attributed to the crime in the last year. ....