Caught stealing copper cable

A security guard went to a disused track maintenance depot owned by DB Schenker near to Buxton railway station at 9.30am on October 16, where he spotted two men inside the building, High Peak Magistrates’ Court heard.

The two men ran off but the guard was able to get a photograph of them. The men, one of whom was identified as Michael Milligan, left behind a rucksack containing an angle grinder, a bag of wire and several pieces of lead.

Milligan, 45, of Fairfield Road, admitted theft.

Annis Rowlands, defending, said: “The defendant accepts he was planning to take these items but didn’t because of the unwanted attention from the security guard.

“Because Mr Milligan didn’t have the opportunity to remove these items from the site there was no actual loss.”

Milligan was given a 12-month community order with 80 hours’ unpaid work and was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £60 surcharge. Magistrates ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the angle grinder.