Let's hope that nobody walks off with our nickel resource...

£100,000 reward to catch Liverpool dock metal thieves

Jul 28 2010 by Ben Rossington, Liverpool Echo

Lorry metal robbery

A £100,000 reward was today offered to catch a gang of crooks behind an audacious metal heist worth millions.

The “professional” crew managed to steal more than 200 tonnes of copper and nickel from a company on Huskisson Dock over a weekend where they went back and forth several times with two trailers of their own and one stolen from the yard.

The reward, which is being put up by the owners of the precious metal, came as detectives released the first CCTV images of the heist.

Det Insp Paul Heslop, from the force’s burglary squad, said: “The CCTV shows the theft of millions of pounds of high-grade copper and nickel by a gang who were clearly very organised and skilled.

“These pictures show the three vehicles used in the burglary being driven away from the scene with the metal on board.

“We are hoping that these photos, along with the offer of a £100,000 reward will prompt someone to come forward with valuable information.”

CCTV from around the dock shows the gang dropping a red-curtained trailer outside the site before the cab drives off. A short time later, it reappears with another red curtained trailer with a “TTL” logo on the side.

TTL was a haulage firm which went bust in 2002.

The gang then broke into the yard and were caught on camera driving their two trailers out, followed by a blue flatbed truck stolen from the site.

During the weekend, the trucks returned to make as many as seven trips in all.

Detectives believe such a massive load is likely to have been split into smaller quantities away from the warehouse and transported to other parts of the UK, such as Teesside, Humberside or Yorkshire, where there are industrial smelting facilities to reduce it down further or change its appearance.

The UK Border Agency has been put on alert in case the crooks try to export it overseas.

DI Heslop said: “This was a well-organised burglary involving a gang of offenders who must have had knowledge of what was in this particular warehouse and how to get it out undetected.

“They would also have needed to have the skill and expertise to drive an HGV, and others must have known how to distribute it once away from the scene.

“High-grade copper and nickel is an incredibly valuable commodity and its worth is reflected by the substantial reward the company is offering.

“It is often imported and used by large companies to trade on the London Metal Exchange.

“Clearly however it needs to have an end user and someone out there must know something about this crime.”

The break-in took place during the bank holiday weekend of May 30 and 31.

Anyone with information should contact the Merseyside Police burglary team on 0151 777 4382 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.