Jail For Salford Thief Who Caused Tram Delays

A Salford man's been jailed for 2 years and 9 months after trying to steal cable from the tram tracks in Manchester, causing massive delays to services.

John Daw admitted attempted theft. The total jail term takes into account other offences he also pleaded guilty to.

Last May, the 42-year-old and another man, who can't be identified, tried to cut fibre optic cables from the track near Cornbrook station.

The pair were disturbed and tried to run off, but as Daw tried to climb over a wall he fell around fifty feet onto waste land between the railway link and the track.

The fall caused the 42-year-old to break his pelvis and fracture his skull.

His actions brought the Metrolink to a halt - causing services to be suspended on the Eccles, Altrincham, MediaCity UK and south Manchester lines for several hours.

The problems cost Transport for Greater Manchester thousands of pounds in lost revenue.

John Woods, from Greater Manchester Police's Operation Alloy taskforce which was set up to tackle metal theft, said:

"This incident dramatically highlights the very real dangers of metal theft, not just to the culprits themselves but also to businesses and the wider public whom are often the 'forgotten victims' of this sort of crime.

"In attempting to steal cables from a live railway track, Daw risked his own life before nearly killing himself after falling 50 feet trying to escape. Now that he has been convicted, I would hope he is rueing the day he ever got involved.

"His actions caused several hours of very frustrating delays for passengers and when you factor in the lost revenue from commuters and the repairs to the track itself, the cost of Daw's actions runs into hundreds of thousands and all for just a few moments of sheer recklessness."