A crime which risks lives and costs the UK around £770 million per year has been described by police as “frightening” following the latest incident in Fife.
Two men have been charged following a potentially lethal attempt to steal electrical cable from Wormit Quarry. Switched-on police officers caught two men as they allegedly tried to carry out the theft on Thursday.
The officers PC Mike Lewis and PC Ruth Goldie, based at Cupar police station were on patrol in the Wormit area when they noticed a van parked near the entrance of the quarry and decided to investigate further.
They then found the men had dug two four feet-deep trenches, exposing a length of the buried cable and were preparing to steal it. The cable was connected to a disused outbuilding.
The two men, aged 37 and 25, were arrested for allegedly attempting to steal the buried electrical cable and will be reported to the procurator fiscal at Cupar.
This latest incident comes after a 53-year-old Leven man suffered an electric shock and was seriously injured while making a similar attempt near Methil late last year.
He was traced and ended up in hospital after allegedly trying to steal electrical cable by cutting into a main power cable across bridge on the River Leven.
Inspector Donald Jenks said: “The danger that thieves put themselves in while attempting to steal cable is frightening.
“There is no way of easily telling if cable that has been dug up is live or not.
“The damage that is caused to utilities is considerable, not to mention the inconvenience that subsequent power outages and repairs cause to businesses and private houses.
“Police Scotland robustly investigates all such crimes and regularly carries out checks at metal dealers and other places where stolen cable may be sold.”