A business consultant has said he has been forced to sleep in the house he is building to deter metal thieves.
Paul Cottrel, from Machen, is currently building a house on Ffwrwm Road. On Friday August 16, the building site was hit for the second time by metal thieves who stripped it of piping and electrical cabling. It was previously broken into on June 15.
Mr Cottrel has now taken to camping inside the building to protect it.
He said: “If that’s what I have to do, then that’s what I have to do.”
Mr Cottrel believes his house was targeted by criminals who may have spotted his house during the day while posing as scrap dealers. The two thefts have cost Mr Cottrel up to around £2,000 in replacing the stolen metal and having workers to refit.
He now wants fellow residents to be extra vigilant.
He said: “If there are scrap dealer coming around in an unmarked transit, then watch out they don’t come around twice.
“If they are legitimate there is no need for them to do a round twice in a day.
“Most genuine scrap dealers use an open back pick-up – they’ve got nothing to hide – but these criminals conceal what they’re taking.”
Anyone with information on either theft should contact Gwent Police on 101.
To think you still have some people who believe thieves such as these deserve a place in society. Let's build a British Alcatraz on one of the islands off the coast of Scotland. Give them a daily shipment off food and water but otherwise leave them to it. If they kill each other off…so be it.
I disagree with this bloke, Dean.
I think the thief was probably, unemployed, had his benefits suspended for some spurious reason by the DWP, and with a family to clothe and feed and electricity and gas to pay for it was necessary for him to steal something to fill the gap left by the actions of the state.
I hope the thief at least got a good price for the items he stole, he was wrong to do so, but, he probably thought `my kids come first`, and, if I am locked up the State will then support my family without any of the suspensions of benefits, late payments, or, any of the hassle looking for a job which does not exist in Caerphilly.
He probably thought, all these people who can afford private health care and private education will pay for my kids and family when they lock me up, if they ever do. And he probably thinks the `insurance` will pay the owner for the thefts anyway.
He also probably knows, when stealing these items, that he would do so without the police disturbing him because they do not have an after hours law enforcement officer anywhere near Machen.
Why is it not surprising that this sort of theft is on a very steep increase in our communities.
Blimey, are they all right wingers over in Machen? One not keen on anyone going anywhere twice in a day, the other wanting to build concentration camps! A business consultant developing an empty property and having some lead and a bit of copper wire swiped, my heart bleeds……
I am depressed by a couple of these comments. There are many reasons why people steal, very occasionally it may be 'for the kids' but more usually it is to pay for drugs and/or alcohol.
I very much hope that most people, seeing a crime in progress or suspicious behaviour, would inform the police. Not attempt to rationalize or justify this behaviour.
The vast majority of the victims of crime are people of limited means, the night shift worker who has their house turned over when they are working, the carer who is employed for peanuts looking after the old and infirm and so on.
Yes, we could do with more employment locally, also higher wages. By all means give the politicians a hard time if you think they are responsible for our current plight; but condoning theft is a swift route to an even more fractured society.
This thread was begun with a clarion call to adopt the penal transportation of yesteryear, so the next comment can hardly be unexpected, I too hope that anyone seeing a crime in progress would report it, however as the article states the suspects in this case appeared to be going about their lawful activities.
Jokio, what a load of nonsense. There are other way to feed a family other than steeling. Needing the money, as you have simply put it down to, is not a reason to steal from someone. Beg, ask for help from friends or family or accept worsening living standards. Don't go stealing.
"Why is it not surprising that this sort of theft is on a very steep increase in our communities." Simple answer.
Firstly, they have no self respect or respect for others in the community.
Secondly, the system doesn't punish them enough so there's no deterrent to not do it again in the future.
I must admit that Dean has a point here. I have been in some pretty desperate situations and have never considered stealing from others. The reason some steal from their fellows might just be that they "have no self respect nor respect for others in their community."
Staying with thread, there had been no arrests let alone a trial, so we are all unaware of any aggravating or mitigating factors. The victim is not vulnerable, the goods are not high value or sentimental there is only the suggestion it was planned. In short not front page news.
The price of the goods don't matter Mickey. The same principles apply.
The value of the goods is important when establishing aggravating factors. Principle was not being discussed.
For your argument it is not, but for mine it is. I think stealing is wrong and shouldn't be done no matter the circumstances. Whether the goods are valuable or not.
You are arguing that it's okay to steal if the goods are cheap.
No it is wrong to steal. When found guilty of a theft crime the aggravating and mitigating factors are taken on to consideration. This thread was begun with a call for a particular kind of punishmnent for a this type of crime,my observations are regarding what we have in place now.
Do you agree that aggravating factors should be taken into account when sentencing?
Yes, aggravating factors should be taken into account when sentencing along with mitigating in all cases. With regard to this thread, from the article it appears that there are no aggravating factors as previously mentioned; The victim is not vulnerable, the goods are not high value or sentimental there is only the suggestion it was planned, we are unaware of any mitigating factors, only the suggestions by jokio.
Dean: this is your posting on another theft issue .i.e. a car taken without consent.:-
"Dean on August 24th, 2013 at 12:53 am says…
Yet another crime happens in Caerphilly. I should be elected as the Home Secretary. I would come down on all of these criminals so hard, and my policies regarding them would be so draconian that they would be scared of the police and jail.
Don`t go soft on us now Dean otherwise we would think all you are doing is winding us up, but you would`nt do that, would you?.
A Napoleon Syndrome sufferer kicks off the thread, ironic that in Deans brave new world he would be enduring a lifetime of ice cold baths, electric shock treatments and experimental labotomys, what with all the criminals in the Gulag we couldn't have people fancying themselves as Home Secretary.
Considering I'm 6ft 3 and have a nice social standing, it's hardly Napoleon Syndrome.
Let's be clear here. I wouldn't be enduring the electric shocks, ice cold baths, lobotomies and drug tests…the criminals would.
I honestly don't think current jail conditions are tough enough and would change it so all prisoners live in solitary confinement.
Dean; What on earth is a "nice social standing", surly that`s relative?
And who cares if you are 6ft 3, or 4ft 2, with a private education, private health care, and live in Penyheol? which I seriously doubt, the fact remains you are totally out of step with the rest of society.
Which exact society would it be in which you enjoy a `nice` social standing, is it the one which enjoys private this and that, or, the one which is polar opposite, the two worlds do not mix, and you fail catastrophically to bring them anywhere near together with your outdated, unsustainable and ogreish opinions.
Jokio….Napoleon syndrome is when small men feel they need to be bigger so over balance their lack if height with other personality featurs. Do you see how NYC height is now relevant?
A nice social standing is being respected in your communty for doing charity work or certain other things.
I was in London recently and you had people living in a council estate ASKING for their benefits to be cut so there's an incentive to get back to work as at the moment they're earning just as much from the state for doing nothing than they would from having a job.
Ooh, I never once said I live in Penyrheol. I live in the same ward but not there. Society is moving right. People are fed up of the left wing socialists having their way. Look at opinion polls, party support, political money cash flow paths etc… Interesting fact; more people left the Labour Party last month than joined it. The same is true for the Liberals, Greenpeace and the Communist party. Yet the opposite is the case for the Conservatives, UKIP and
The BNP. Just a coincidence…?
Dean: so, you don`t actually live in Penyheol then? that would explain why, with such Extreme Right Wing views, and, I accept you are not averse to expressing them at every opportunity, you have not been ` stoned in street` in your community, or, is it that you hide your real identity and comments behind a veil of secrecy because you know you are probably in a minority of one, hang em? flog em?, scare em?, starve em?, lock em up and let em kill each other,? is the utopia you and the rest of your right wing, `forward thinking` `community` aspire to? If it is, you must be the Caerphilly member of the BNF?.
Don't associate me with nationalist front or extreme right racist views. I'm not one of those. I do like to express my own opinions just like you do. Nothing wrong with it. The world would be boring if we all agreed.
I'm in the minority when we look at Caerphilly only. However, on a national level the calls for "hang em? flog em?, scare em?, starve em?, lock em up and let em kill each other" are rather strong. We need to clamp down on crime and stop treating vile criminals nicely.
Dean; I think you are ` slightly` losing your way.
You said on 26th Aug 9;42 "Ooh, I never once said I live in Penyrheol.
But in a previous posting you `actually` said;-
"I live in Penyrheol and the councillors are terrible. They make promises, ask you your opinions and even offer to pass on problems".
Catch up Dean if you want to retain any credibility at all in your ` position as a contributor to these pages which we enjoy reading and disagreeing with.
What I meant Jokio was that I live in the Penyrheol ward. The councillors are the same. Simple mistake to make. If you read previous posts of mine you will see that I've been clear that I live in the Penyrheol ward and not in Penyrheol itself. What you did there was dirty. You took a selective piece of information from one comment and applied it to twist what I have previously communicated.
Thank goodness school re-starts soon.
Too right Clive! Most of these crime stories posted here seem to involve school age teenagers. To think, January time there were few crime related articles, now in August there are many.
When DO you return to school exactly Dean????
It depends if my company has a contract to install IT systems in a school.
Dean:
You `actually` benefit from the state education system after all. Well done, and welcome to the real world.
The key word is 'if. I haven't received the contract yet…
Dean: But, you are prepared to take the money from the state education system then in order to line your pockets?. Good on you my friend, you`ve joined that club.
"House" you should see this place – it looks like some sort of institution or Office, this Paul Cottrel character is one of the Directors of the Company that applied for planning permission to build it. More to this story than meets the eye……