Manchester rail worker stole £10k of cable from depot
- Published
Brendan Moloney stole the valuable copper cable from a depot where he worked
A rail worker's plan to steal a £10,000 reel of cable unravelled after a tracker on his getaway vehicle led police to the home of an accomplice.
Brendan Moloney, 36, of Thornton Road, Manchester, let himself into the unattended depot where he worked.
But a tracker fitted to the Network Rail van he used to move the cable took officers to the home of Anthony Patrick Lynch, 31, of The Hayes, Stockport.
The two men were sentenced after admitting theft at Chester Crown Court.
Moloney was jailed for 12 months and Lynch received a 12-month community order and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
British Transport Police said the pair drove to the Network Rail depot in Crewe, Cheshire, in the early hours of 19 March 2017 in a van belonging to Moloney, before taking keys for a work vehicle from the site office.
'Blatant theft'
CCTV captured the pair driving to a goods store where the drum of cable was lifted into the van.
The vehicle disappeared for two hours before being returned to the depot at 06:00 GMT.
The pair had unwittingly taken a Network Rail vehicle fitted with a tracking beacon, which placed it at the home of Lynch.
Mobile phone records also showed the pair were at the depot on the night of the theft.
Det Con Paul Whittaker, of British Transport Police, said: "This was a blatant theft, particularly by Moloney who worked for the company at the targeted depot."
Police said the copper was not recovered and was likely to have been sold for scrap.