Thomas Keenan (Image: North Wales Police)
Last Updated: 4 minutes ago
A Walsall man has been sent to prison after admitting his part in a raid on a BT telephone exchange in Gwynedd that saw 750 metres of copper cabling taken in under ten minutes.
Thomas Keenan, 24, of Montgomery Road, Bentley, Walsall, pleaded guilty to burglary and was jailed for 13 months at Mold Crown Court on Friday.
Traced by phone and number plate
Keenan was caught because the van used in the burglary had its registration captured on CCTV. Checks showed the registered keeper lived in Walsall and that Keenan was the permitted driver.
ANPR cameras then picked up his journey that night from Gwynedd, through Wolverhampton and back to Walsall. Prosecutor Karl Scholz told the court his mobile phone number had been “hitting masts along the same route.”
Officers stopped the van four days after the theft but found no cabling inside. Keenan was not interviewed until October 30, 2023, when he claimed the phone belonged to his wife. Mr Scholz said: “He did not know why it should have been in North Wales at the relevant time.”
The raid
The court heard a white Transit van pulled up at the BT telephone exchange on Porthmadog High Street at 7.21pm on Sunday, May 21, 2023. CCTV showed three men inside. One got out to open the main gate before the van was driven round to the rear of the site.
The group cut their way into a lock-up and removed six wooden drums holding the copper cabling, valued at £4,000. Mr Scholz said the burglary had involved “significant planning,” including bringing a tool to break into the shed.
Defence
Hywel Davies, defending, accepted a custodial sentence was unavoidable and secured a quarter off the term for his client’s guilty plea. He said Keenan wants to leave his “pro-crime lifestyle” behind so he can look after his wife, and that while on remand he has taken a prison job and is attending reading and writing courses.
Sentencing
His Honour Hywel James said: “This was a professional job in that entry was gained very quickly. Within ten minutes the van was exiting with six wooden drums with 750 metres of copper cabling stolen.”
The judge said there had been a “significant degree of organisation.” He acknowledged the “sad” family circumstances raised in mitigation and said he hoped Keenan would come to see that the “best support” he could offer his wife was to stop committing offences like this one.
