Chigwell train track thief given sentence after guilty plea

A thief who stole part of a train track and tried to escape police with it hanging out the back of a van has been given a 12-month community order.

Adrian Reed, of Fairview Drive, Chigwell, stole the metal from the railway in Peterborough with Colin Orrow, of Grasmere Gardens, Cambridge.

After pleading guilty to theft, Reed was sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court on Monday, while his accomplice was also given a 12-month community order and ordered to do 140 hours of unpaid work on June 7.

British Transport Police said the pair headed to the railway track near a level crossing in Holme with a hired van on September 10.

They were seen by several members of the public loading their van with metal before driving off with rail track hanging out the back.

Police followed the thieves as they “erratically” tried to speed away but they were eventually stopped and arrested.

Det Con Matt Nolan said: “Without the help and calls from the public, we would not have been notified of this crime at such an early stage, which may have been just too late to catch these two thieves in action.”