Motoring Discussion > Thieving scum bags... Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Bigtee Replies: 16

 Thieving scum bags... - Bigtee
Just read in the Auto express mag which maybe old news as they came new from a charity shop!!

That there is Catalitic convertors been stolen from cars for there precious metals & the police would like manufactures to make this harder for them to nick it.

In my box of goodies i have a Exhaust cutter which is a chain strap with cutting wheels on & these are sold at most good tool shops so if they can't unbolt the cat they will cut it off.

Anyone had one nicked?

Which cars are easier than others?

What is the best way to prevent this?

If this has been covered deleate it mods.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 7 Dec 10 at 18:52
 Thieving scum bags... - Fenlander
Local dealer had this with an almost new 4WD... cat cut off with a wheel cutter.
 Thieving scum bags... - Biggles
dare I say it but I am not surprised. Value of scrap, tuppence hapenny, cost to repair damage, several hundred. At the same level as nicking signal cable from the railways for the copper content (practcally nill). Glad I left the country.
 Thieving scum bags... - MD
Did you fly?
 Thieving scum bags... - Mike Hannon
>>dare I say it but I am not surprised. Value of scrap, tuppence hapenny, cost to repair damage, several hundred. At the same level as nicking signal cable from the railways for the copper content (practcally nill). Glad I left the country. <<

Thieves regularly cripple French railways these days by stealing copper wire from the overhead gear.
 Thieving scum bags... - henry k
>>Anyone had one nicked?

Info re one case @
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=3035
 Thieving scum bags... - L'escargot
>> What is the best way to prevent this?

Don't park where your car is vulnerable.
 Thieving scum bags... - Haywain
"What is the best way to prevent this?"

Catch the culprits and cut their hands off. I agree with the Muslims on this one!

The phones were out of action for a week when thieves nicked the wire out of the junction box that served the village where my aged father lives. Goodness only knows what this cost to rectify - but the value of the copper couldn't have been more than a couple of quid.
 Thieving scum bags... - Iffy
Newly-installed railings beside a railway line were a target for thieves around here.

Not sure if that was for scrap value, or because the railings were sturdy and of very good quality.

 Thieving scum bags... - Cockle
>> The phones were out of action for a week when thieves nicked the wire out
>> of the junction box that served the village where my aged father lives. Goodness only
>> knows what this cost to rectify - but the value of the copper couldn't have
>> been more than a couple of quid.
>>

Current price for insulated copper cable scrap is about £1400 per ton which would make a 1000m of 2.5 TWE worth about £100. A large telephone cable such as the ones used to get from an exchange to a street cabinet to serve up to 1000 customers would probably work out as worth about £2.50 per metre, local distribution cables probably between £1.50-£2 p/mtr depending on size. So someone stealing a couple of hundred metres, certainly not unheard of, would be looking at getting towards £400-500.

It is a major problem currently, especially in the comms industry, it is common for scrap cables placed outside a telephone exchange for collection to be put in place at 10 in the morning and be gone by lunchtime, not collected by the designated transport........ Several buildings I have worked at have had scrap cages in the car park for scrap wire which are regularly filled but haven't needed emptying, officially, for several months. Procedures are now that the scrap is stored internally and then loaded direct on to transport and taken to secure locations.

BT has a dedicated team within its security department that do nothing but work with police forces on cable protection and stolen cable recovery. Much of BT's external plant is now being protected by SmartWater, this helps with catching the thieves and will gradually have the effect of making the cables worthless to them when it reaches the level that the source of any cable can be identified.

Sadly the thieves are no longer content with just a bit of scrap and are now quite happy to cut down working cables and pull them out of the ground, the cost of repair and the inconvenience to customers is totally out of proportion to the value of the copper.
Last edited by: Cockle on Wed 8 Dec 10 at 12:58
 Thieving scum bags... - Bellboy
BT has a dedicated team within its security department that do nothing but work with police forces on cable protection and stolen cable recovery. Much of BT's external plant is now being protected by SmartWater, this helps with catching the thieves and will gradually have the effect of making the cables worthless to them when it reaches the level that the source of any cable can be identified.
>>>>
>>>>>>>>sorry cant let this go without comment
its mainly run by big time crooks and its the cronies that steal the wire most have never been caught because they do it at night and strip the stuff by day or burn the sheafing off
you have to target the scrapyards and make everyone who weighs in have their photo taken and have id to prove who they are,without this you are wasting your time
big money weigh in attract crooks just like car clocking drugs prostitution and becoming an mp
 Thieving scum bags... - Statistical Outlier
Big money? Becoming an MP?? What planet are you on? A bank bench MP isn't anywhere remotely near big money, expenses scam or not.
 Thieving scum bags... - Iffy
...big money weigh in attract crooks just like car clocking drugs prostitution and becoming an mp...

There's a long and dishonourable history of dishonesty among scrap metal dealers.

The classic south east London armed robbery gang always had a scrap man as a member - and a motor trader.


 Thieving scum bags... - Old Sock
If only they'd target overhead power lines instead :-)

Maybe they know they're not copper.....
 Thieving scum bags... - IJWS14
The day that the power was due to be turned on at the Midland Metro they thought they would see the end of the thefts, final check of the line showed that over 2km of the overhead contact wire had gone overnight.

The theives had a lorry with a false ceiling so they could drive along the line cutting down the wire as they went.

The contact wire is largely copper, just not the standard malleable copper used in most conduuctors. They don't lose much once the power is on, 25kv A.C for main line and 750V DC for tramways tends to keep people off.
 Thieving scum bags... - bathtub tom
>>25kv A.C for main line and 750V DC for tramways tends to keep people off.

No it doesn't. They just don't come back a second time!
 Thieving scum bags... - oilburner
Mrs OB works in the energy industry, it's very common for sub-stations to be broken into for cable thefts. Unfortunately for the scum, they're not trained in handling live wires like the pros are...
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