Eleven men arrested over cable theft

Buy photos » Eleven men have been arrested in connection with the theft of railway cable between Evesham Train Station and Moreton-in-Marsh.

ELEVEN men have been arrested in connection with the theft of railway cable on the Cotswold line.

The men have been remanded in custody after they were charged with conspiracy to steal the power cable on the line between Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh.

Officers from British Transport Police executed search warrants at five addresses in Birmingham last Thursday (May 24) and seven men, originally from Romania, were arrested.

The previous day four other Romanian men were detained after a suspicious vehicle was stopped by officers from Warwickshire Police near to the railway line in Church Lawford.

The move was part of Operation Distillery, an ongoing major investigation into the theft of railway cable in the Evesham area between November last year and this month.

All of the arrested, who are aged between 19 and 36, appeared before magistrates in Birmingham last Friday (May 25) and were all charged with conspiracy to steal railway power cable.

The arrested men are:

Stefanel Ruset - aged 19

Alexandru Tofaleanu - aged 29

Costinel Mijloc - aged 29

Mihai Mihart - aged 25

Jan Trofin - aged 36

Chris Toader - aged 24

Florin Cojocararu - aged 25

Adrian Nae - aged 25

Mihai Binta - aged 27

Gabriel Mijloc - aged 29

Adrian Volnescu - aged 28

All eleven are set to appear at Birmingham Crown Court on today (Friday).

Regional news »