County Express 4/5/1867

Duo carry the can for rail thieves

Two unemployed Black Country men were "following in the footstep of others" when they stole lengths of scrap railway line Stourbridge Magistrates heard.
Andrew John Buckingham, 30, and Jason Terence Attwood, 20, admitted stealing the pieces of track from Stourbridge Junction.
Buckingham, of Coppice Avenue, Wollescote, also agreed he had failed to produce his driving I licence, insurance and test certificates when he was asked to do so in Junction Road.
Both were fined £100 and ordered to pay £15 costs and Buckingham was given a 12 month conditional discharge for the driving offences.
Nicholas Roy, prosecuting, told magistrates a mobile police patrol spotted Attwood of Byron House Colley Gate, and Buckingham with another man at the station in the early hours of September 27.
"Attwood and a man who has never been identified ran off but he and Buckingham were detained.
"They were questioned about the lengths of rail found in the back of Buckingham's orange Mazda pick-up truck and they fully admitted the theft."
Mr. John Sanders, defending, said: "The heap of cut up lengths of old rail had gone down like a pile of leaves dissipated by the autumn wind.
These men were the last participants who took away pieces of rail and they were the only ones who got caught. They were following in the footsteps of others.

			RAILWAY AND INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE SOUTH WEST BLACK COUNTRY

			County Express 14th November 1991
			Duo carry the can for rail thieves Two unemployed Black Country men were "following in the footstep of others" when they stole lengths of scrap railway line Stourbridge Magistrates heard. Andrew John Buckingham, 30, and Jason Terence Attwood, 20, admitted stealing the pieces of track from Stourbridge Junction. Buckingham, of Coppice Avenue, Wollescote, also agreed he had failed to produce his driving I licence, insurance and test certificates when he was asked to do so in Junction Road. Both were fined £100 and ordered to pay £15 costs and Buckingham was given a 12 month conditional discharge for the driving offences. Nicholas Roy, prosecuting, told magistrates a mobile police patrol spotted Attwood of Byron House Colley Gate, and Buckingham with another man at the station in the early hours of September 27. "Attwood and a man who has never been identified ran off but he and Buckingham were detained. "They were questioned about the lengths of rail found in the back of Buckingham's orange Mazda pick-up truck and they fully admitted the theft." Mr. John Sanders, defending, said: "The heap of cut up lengths of old rail had gone down like a pile of leaves dissipated by the autumn wind. These men were the last participants who took away pieces of rail and they were the only ones who got caught. They were following in the footsteps of others.