A gang of conspirators have been sentenced for stealing train track rails

A gang of seven men have been sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court for stealing train track rails.

Jaspreet Oberoi, 40, Lee Clark, 48, Dean Tonks, 38, Ricky Collins, 40, Daniel Hemmings, 77, David Aignotti, 58 and Shaun Webber, 41, were sentenced to 30 months imprisonment, 27 months imprisonment suspended for two years, 15 months imprisonment, 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years, 42 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years, 49 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years respectively for conspiracy to steal offences.

Between March and November 2016: Oberoi, Clark, Karl Domonkos, 57, Mark Domonkos, 50, Tonks, Joseph Savage, 39, Neil Atkinson, 52, David McClure, 50, Timothy Cruxon, 61, and Robert Barwell, 31,  conspired in the stealing of rail from Network Rail trackside and depot locations in the East of England on eighty - nine occasions. 

Steven Ashby, 48 a former railway contractor, who pleaded guilty to his part at an earlier court hearing, passed away prior to sentencing.

Those with insider knowledge were passing the location of rails to other conspirators. Heavy goods vehicles attended the location and access was gained by the help of railway contractors. The rail was loaded onto the vehicles which were driven back to the scrap metal business named JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd of which Jaspreet Oberoi was a director.  

During a six - week trial commencing in January 2022 at Sheffield Crown Court, Jaspreet Oberoi, Lee Clark, Karl Domonkos, Mark Domonkos were found guilty. McClure was found guilty at a second trial held during April 2022. The others admitted their guilt at an earlier hearing.

During their investigation the British Transport Police unearthed a further conspiracy to steal rail which took place over a similar time period, May to November 2016. This conspiracy concerned the Network Rail Manager, Ricky Collins.

Collins was overseeing a rail upgrade of the Midlands Mainline and passing locations of stockpiled rail to Jaspreet Oberoi via third parties. The hauliers Clark and Hemmings attended the locations where rail was again loaded onto lorries and transported back to the Scrap Metal Dealer JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd.

This took place on thirty - six occasions at locations including Kettering, Market Harborough, Derby, Burton-on-Trent and Braybrooke. 

After a three - week trial in July 2023 Hemmings was convicted of his part in the second conspiracy to steal rail. Jaspreet Oberoi, Ricky Collins, David Anginotti, Lee Clark and Shaun Webber pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to steal rail at earlier hearings.  

During the three trials it was proved that Oberoi’s company JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd made the arrangements for the collection of stolen rail which funded the criminal operation. It was this company that made profits from these stolen goods by selling it as scrap metal to legitimate customers and businesses.

Clark ran his own company outside of JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd but was based on their premises. He used JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd as a channel for the stolen goods. 

David Anginotti ran the company South Yorkshire Metals and acted together with Webber, a railway contractor, as an intermediary between Ricky Collins of Network Rail and JSJ Metal Recycling Ltd.   

Stephane Pendered of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said: “These were significant conspiracies to steal rail. Collectively they stole on 125 occasions from Network Rail which is partly funded by UK taxpayers to the tune of billions of pounds.

“The defendants were motivated by greed and showed no regard that these rails were needed for the running of essential rail services for passengers and businesses or to the obvious public safety risks caused by doing these thefts trackside.”

“The CPS Proceeds of Crime Division has commenced proceedings to recover these defendants’ ill-gotten gains.”

The CPS is committed to bring criminals who steal from taxpayers to justice.