A would-be construction equipment thief - caught in the early hours by police after a local resident raised the alarm - was jailed for eighteen months yesterday.
Car mechanic Daniel Jones, 27, of Carfax Avenue, Tongham, Surrey raided the site with two accomplices, intent on making off with thousands of pounds worth of equipment.
He pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court (pictured) to attempting to steal jackhammer drills, alone worth £27,000, and other equipment in Rye Crescent, Orpington on July 20, last year.
A local lorry driver called the police at 5am because of suspicious movements on the site and the presence of a flat-bed truck three hours before work usually started.
Jones, who had been driving a digger when officers arrived, tried to flee, but was caught and handcuffed.
He claimed he thought the two accomplices were allowed on the site and he was helping them for a £200 fee, but admitted his guilt on the day he was due to stand trial.
"These crimes are prevalent in society at the moment, people going onto building sites and taking metal and the like," announced Judge Heather Baucher.
"You were chosen because of your skills in commercial vehicles and this was a specific digger on a building site that you were trying to get away," the judge told Jones, who has forty-two previous convictions.
"You tried to escape and you hid your appearance by pulling your hood up."
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