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A Swansea man who went on to the railway at Gowerton with the intention of stealing cable has been jailed for 18 months.

A 17-year-old youth has also been sentenced to a 12 month Youth Rehabilitation Order and ordered to carry out 40 hours unpaid work.

James Anthony Griffiths, aged 38, of Blaenymaes, Swansea, and a 17-year-old male, who is from the Penlan area of Swansea, were today, Friday 23 December 2011, sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after pleading guilty to a number of charges, including attempted theft and endangering safety.

Both Griffiths and the youth were prosecuted following an operation involving plain-clothed British Transport Police (BTP) officers who carried out mobile patrols in the Gowerton area.

The court heard that at around 3.25am on 25 May 2010, officers in an unmarked police vehicle saw three men walking alongside the railway.

They then made their way onto the station platform and it was at this point that one of the men noticed the unmarked vehicle and broke away from the group. The other two men continued along the platform in the direction of Llanelli.

Upon conducting a search of the area, officers discovered Griffiths hunched behind some branches in what was described as ^the foetal position^.

When arrested, Griffiths told officers he was ^taking a short cut^. He was then searched and a small amount of cannabis was found on him.

Griffiths was taken into custody and shortly after, the 17-year-old youth was arrested on a road near the station.

After his arrest, the youth ^ who cannot be named for legal reasons - told officers he was dropped off at the station as a lookout, adding: ^I was supposed to phone if I saw anyone coming but I didn^t have any credit on my phone.^

He later denied in interview that he^d said this ^ despite admitting it was his signature next to the statement in the officer^s pocket notebook.

Officers conducted a trackside search and discovered lengths of railway cable had been cut.

A search of Griffiths^ home address was carried out and a large quantity of railway cable was recovered.

Text messages downloaded from Griffiths^ mobile phone confirmed the fact they were ^working^ in the early hours of 25 May 2010.

Items seized from the scene of an earlier attempted cable theft resulted in a positive DNA match with the 17-year-old youth.

In interview, Griffiths claimed he was on the tracks to take a short cut and that the cable found at his home was household cable he had acquired from the tip.

Griffiths was jailed after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted theft, two counts of endangering safety, handling stolen goods and possession of cannabis.

The 17-year-old youth pleaded guilty to endangering safety and attempted theft.

Sergeant Guy Ellis, part of BTP^s team which tackles cable crime, said: ^Crime which involves the theft or attempted theft of railway cable attracts strong penalties and I hope the sentences handed to these two individuals will act as a deterrent to others. There is a common assumption that cable theft is a victimless crime, with the only effects being felt by the railway industry - this is simply not the case.

^Theft of cable has a huge impact on the operational running of the railway and thousands of passengers are inconvenienced by it every year. Stealing railway cable is also incredibly dangerous. Anyone who seeks to steal railway cable risks serious injury ^ or even death ^ through electrocution.

^As part of BTP^s ongoing crackdown to tackle metal and cable theft along the railway, we are utilising a whole range of tactics across the region. We will continue to carry out high profile patrols at known areas of cable theft activity across the area and work closely with scrap metal dealers and the British Metals Recycling Association.^

Mark Langman, route managing director for Network Rail said: ^The sentences handed down in this case send a stark warning to anyone considering stealing cable from the railway. The theft of cable is a constant drain on our resources and potentially causes considerable disruption to rail users. This is not acceptable.

^We are working with our colleagues at the train operating companies and British Transport Police on a number of ideas to tackle thieves, including covert surveillance and helicopter patrols, but we also need help from local people too.

^We welcome the public to help keep services running reliably by reporting anyone you see acting suspiciously or let the police know of any information you have about people committing these crimes.^

Good , we have had some people living in my local area done for cable theft so hopefully the public etc are starting to wake up to this problem.