A MAN caught on camera at a West Cumbria scrapyard as he tried to offload stolen loot has been sentenced by a judge.
An industrial unit at Salterbeck, Workington, which was in the process of being converted into a gym, was burgled on January 17, 2019. Tools, copper piping and electrical equipment with a total value of around £8,500 were snatched.
Later that day, the two victims learned some of their property – including copper piping, brass fittings and other metal – was at a local scrapyard. They went to the yard and found part of the loot had been weighed in.
It had been transported there by 46-year-old Rikki Lee Taylor who, Carlisle Crown Court heard today (TUES), used his own vehicle and provided his bank details at the scrapyard – but didn’t ultimately receive payment after the crime was discovered.
Taylor denied a charge of handling stolen goods but was convicted of the offence by a jury after a trial. He was sentenced this morning, and received an 18-month community order comprising a rehabilitation activity requirement and a three-month electronically monitored night-time curfew. The court Taylor had been approached by a man and agreed to make the drop-off in exchange for an £80 fee.
One of the burglary victims had told how the offence had a significant impact on his life and work. And, as he passed sentence on Taylor, of Elm Court, Workington, for handling the stolen goods, Recorder Paul Reid QC told him: “Without people such as you, who are willing and able to take part in the disposal of property, the role or success of burglars would be somewhat limited.”
