A brazen railway thief was caught red-handed cutting cables in an attempted theft which cost thousands.
Gareth Stephens, 45, was sentenced to six months in prison and fined £154 after admitting to attempted theft of railway cable and possession of a bladed article in a public place.
The incident happened at around 7:45 pm in June 2025, when a staff member received an alert about suspicious activity near Abercynon station.
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The worker went to investigate and alerted British Transport Police (BTP) before finding Stephens actively cutting railway cable.
When challenged, Stephens fled towards nearby Penrhiwceiber station.
Trains were stopped for safety while a search was carried out, as reported by Need To Know.
A signalling fault was also reported as a direct result of the attempted theft.
Stephens was arrested a short time later.
Officers found a knife discarded in a nearby bush and a grey backpack containing cable cutters.
The attempted theft and resulting delays were estimated to have cost £5,600.
Dan Tipper, chief infrastructure officer at Transport for Wales, said: “The swift and vigilant action of our team member, alongside our close cooperation with the British Transport Police, helped stop this crime and reduce the impact to services and members of the public.
“Attempting to steal railway cable is incredibly dangerous, reckless, and disruptive to our network.
“This sentence sends a clear message that cable theft on our network will not be tolerated.
“Overhead line wires carry 25,000 volts, which is over 100 times the voltage of domestic electricity.
“They are live at all times.
“We hope this incident acts as a strong deterrent to anyone considering similar dangerous criminal activity.”
BTP Detective Constable Liam Perry said: “Stealing railway cable is far from a victimless crime.
“Stephens endangered himself, railway staff, train crews, police officers and members of the public as well.
“The damage caused to vital signalling infrastructure creates a significant risk to the safe movement of trains and has the potential here to severely disrupt Transport for Wales services.
“If you have information about individuals responsible for stealing railway cable, report it to us discreetly by texting 61016.
“We work extensively with Transport for Wales and Network Rail to keep our railways safe, and we’ll always work to bring offenders to justice.”
Craig Fisher, head of route operations at Network Rail Wales and Borders, said: “Cable theft is dangerous, disruptive and costly.
“Tampering with railway equipment can put passengers, railway staff and the offenders themselves at serious risk.
“In this case, vital signalling equipment was damaged, and trains had to be stopped, resulting in thousands of pounds of disruption and repair costs.
“There is no excuse for targeting critical railway infrastructure in this way.
“We welcome the custodial sentence and hope it sends a clear message about the seriousness of this type of offending.”
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