It is the churches, however, who have borne the brunt of the crime for
longest, suffering the most sacrilegious wave of ecclesiastical theft since
the dissolution of the monasteries. It affects rural and urban churches
alike. Last year, I also visited Croydon parish church, in south London,
which has buried six archbishops of Canterbury. It had had £130,000 worth of
roof stolen in January 2010. “It causes enormous stress to parishioners,”
said the Reverend Canon Colin Boswell, pointing out damage to the priceless
organ.
“It is rather soul destroying,” said Denise Mead, the verger. After the first
theft, she and her husband had stoically camped out, hoping to catch the
thieves. When the thief was caught (by the police, not by the Meads) it
emerged that he had been using Google Earth to identify lead roofs all over
south London.
“There is not a diocese in the country unaffected by lead theft,” says Katri
Link of Ecclesiastical Insurance, which provides cover for most Church of
England properties. The Church estimates that more than a third of its
16,000 buildings have been targeted, many on more than five occasions. There
have been more
than 2,000 insurance claims this year – compared
with only 12 in 2002. After paying out £24.5 million since 2007,
Ecclesiastical is now forced to cap its payments at £5,000. “Those kind of
sums get you nowhere,” says Mr White.
Last month, as if Woodchurch hadn’t already suffered enough, it spent more
than 24 hours without broadband landline access after criminals stripped the
telephone wires. Again, it’s far from an isolated incident. BT says that
stolen telephone wire has accounted for more than 220 arrests so far this
year.
Last week, some locals in the village of Albury, Surrey, were without
broadband or landline coverage for four days after a similar theft.
A more dangerous target for the metal thieves is the electricity network.
According to Tony Glover of the Energy Network Association, the industry
body for electricity and gas suppliers, power supply companies were the
victims of 6,000 metal thefts in 2010, a 100 per cent increase. This year,
that total was passed in July, with at least 25,500 homes experiencing power
cuts.
Six metal thieves have died, including a 16 year old, and there have been more
than 50 injuries. Earlier this month in Kent, which suffers particularly
badly as its long coastline makes for easy illicit export, a foal was
electrocuted by live wires after a power cable was chopped down.
Criminals range from opportunistic teenagers stealing copper piping on a gas
mains to more sophisticated gangs shimmying up a 100ft electricity pylon to
cut down the earth wire. We recently reported how an entire village in
Lincolnshire was plunged into darkness after thieves stole more than 1,000
metres of overhead cabling.
The cost to the power companies – £13.25 million already this year – is then
passed on to the consumer in their bills. A similar price is evident on the
railways. Last year Network Rail paid out £16.5 million in compensation and
repairs after metal thefts leapt by 52 per cent.
According to the British Transport Police, who have called metal thefts their
“biggest challenge after counter-terrorism”, there are now up to 10,000 such
crimes a month. The resulting “signalling problems” cause disproportionate
misery for passengers and train companies; the theft of a single copper
cable, which might contain 48 strands, all requiring reconnecting, can delay
hundreds of trains and cost tens of thousands of pounds. The thieves,
meanwhile, might get £50 for their troubles.
Such paltry gains don’t seem to put them off. In Blackpool, the model village
had the lead roof tiles stolen on its miniature houses. In Basildon, Essex,
thieves stole 800 supermarket trolleys from Asda, paying £1 to release them
one by one. While in Newcastle two men recently received suspended sentences
for stealing a £15,000 bronze war memorial.
This rapid escalation and diversification of metal thefts has led to more
concerted calls for the Government to act. In a recent House of Lords
debate, Lord Jenkin said that legislation was “still in the age of Steptoe
and Son”. Organisations such as Ecclesiastical Insurance and the Energy
Network Association are calling for an urgent update to the Scrap Metal
Dealers Act 1964.
“It is unfit for purpose,” says Glover. “The police currently have the power
to enter only licensed scrap metal dealers and not unlicensed dealers. It’s
ridiculous. We want more powers for police, a proper licensing regime and a
cashless system, as [they have] in 30 American states and most of Europe. If
you don’t have a bank account, what sort of business are you running?”
One of the obstacles to catching offenders is the sheer volume of metal in
Britain. The British Metals Recycling Association say that some 15 million
tonnes of metal is recycled each year in an industry worth nearly £5
billion. Stolen metal that’s not shipped abroad can pass through the supply
chain very quickly. Of the 15,000 tonnes stolen each year, a half is taken
from legitimate dealers themselves. “It’s not just about the money,” says
Glover. “The odds are going up that an innocent person is going to die.”
Back in Woodchurch, the community has rallied around, holding raffles and
adding to the collection pot. There’s a perverse sense of relief that
there’s nothing left to steal on the roof. While in another bitter-sweet
consolation, English Heritage has allowed them to replace the lead with
cheaper steel.
“We’ve raised about £30,000,” says Mr White, who did a parachute jump in June,
raising £2,000. “It’s just hugely sad that this money has to go on a roof,
instead of more worthy causes.”