Passing of tougher new laws on metal theft welcomed
March 1, 2013 9:56 AM
Two Hinckley and Bosworth Councillors have welcomed the passing of a law to clamp down on metal theft.
The Scrap Metal Dealers Bill was passed through parliament earlier this month. The changes include the banning of cash payments at scrap metal yards; payment may only be by cheque or by an electronic transfer of funds (authorised by credit or debit card or otherwise) so it will be easier to trace people who are selling stolen metal.
It also strengthens the licensing regime around scrap metal, and strengthens the powers of entry into yards suspected of dealing in stolen metal.
Cllr Michael Mullaney (Lib Dem: Hinckley Trinity) and Cllr David Bill (Lib Dem: Hinckley Clarendon) had been campaigning for tougher laws to be brought in to tackle metal theft since two incidents occurred at St Mary's Church in Hinckley last year.
The church suffered £50,000 worth of damage when thieves attempted to steal lead from the Church roof. This was followed by a second theft a short time later that hit the Church Hall.
Cllr Michael Mullaney said "Metal theft has hit our community as we saw with the thefts from St Mary's Church. I'm glad these laws have come into place and hope that they will help prevent repeats of these kind of crimes.
"The Home Office estimate there were 67,000 metal thefts last year and this new law ought to go some way towards clamping down on rogue dealers and taking away the market for stolen metal.
"This is positive progress but we will have to see how successful these measures are at stopping this damaging crime. If it needs to the government should consider further measures to deal with it."
Cllr David Bill said "These metal thieves seem to have no morals at all when it comes to stealing metal.
It also strengthens the licensing regime around scrap metal, and strengthens the powers of entry into yards suspected of dealing in stolen metal.
Cllr Michael Mullaney (Lib Dem: Hinckley Trinity) and Cllr David Bill (Lib Dem: Hinckley Clarendon) had been campaigning for tougher laws to be brought in to tackle metal theft since two incidents occurred at St Mary's Church in Hinckley last year.
The church suffered £50,000 worth of damage when thieves attempted to steal lead from the Church roof. This was followed by a second theft a short time later that hit the Church Hall.
Cllr Michael Mullaney said "Metal theft has hit our community as we saw with the thefts from St Mary's Church. I'm glad these laws have come into place and hope that they will help prevent repeats of these kind of crimes.
"The Home Office estimate there were 67,000 metal thefts last year and this new law ought to go some way towards clamping down on rogue dealers and taking away the market for stolen metal.
"This is positive progress but we will have to see how successful these measures are at stopping this damaging crime. If it needs to the government should consider further measures to deal with it."
Cllr David Bill said "These metal thieves seem to have no morals at all when it comes to stealing metal.
"Churches like St Mary's here in Hinckley have been victims of metal theft and even War Memorials have had the metal taken from them, I'm glad that as we approach the hundredth anniversary of World War One more action is being taken to protect these monuments."