Two men went to the site in the early hours of the morning with Thompson to

Tag : lead,copper
According to police reports , 43-year-old Thompson and two other men entered a defunct steelmill in Pontypool, South Wales, with the intent to nick copper fromscads of cable lying about one April morning. When his bolt cutterstouched the plastic coating of a cable still connected to theNational Grid, Thompson was electrocuted.

The two accomplices started carrying Thompson’s body form thesite but dumped it when they feared they had been spotted; policelater arrested the men.

Detective constable Gordon Poole of Gwent Police said Thompson hadbeen at the steelworks a few days before his death to steal copper.Poole added that electricity to much of the site had been shut downafter a reported attempt to cut copper wire with an axe had pierceda live cable carrying less than 500 V. Despite this, the detectivesaid, there were still live cables running to the site’ssubstation.

Two men, who were later arrested, told police they went to the site in the early hours of the morning with Thompson to steal copper.They said they carried him from the scene of his death andabandoned him when they thought someone had seen them.

Deputy coroner Wendy James found amphetamines in Thompson’sbloodstream consistent with “recent abuse,” which shebelieves would have increased his risk-taking.

The United Kingdom has been plagued by a surge in metal thefts inrecent years as the Asian construction and manufacturing boom haspushed up the prices of raw materials. Thieves routinely rip longsections of copper cable from the side of railway lines or steallead flashing from church roofs, ignoring health and safetywarnings from the police and quickly melting down their loot.