Scrap metal thief caught after company worker spots lorry on A11 |
A worker from Thetford-firm Garmet recognised the DAF vehicle from CCTV footage of the theft of a skip containing metal sheeting 10 days earlier and followed it while alerting police.
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James Atkins, 32, was tracked to a Tesco car park where he was arrested in connection with the incident at the company’s factory on Fison Way Industrial Estate in June 2024.
Norwich Magistrates’ Court was told “damning” messages were found on his phone referring to the theft as “about three tonnes - better than coming back with nothing”.
Atkins, of Chigwell in Essex, who has 14 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to theft by finding.
He will be sentenced on June 17.
The court was told he had previously been jailed for 14 months in 2023 for the illegal dumping of waste in a car park in Dartford, Kent.
Anthony Nowacki, mitigating, said: “This offence took place a short time after he had been released from prison but there have been no further offences in the two years since.”