Cable thief told to repay £25,000

Ben Pearson, 23, of Hillcrest Road, Castleford, appeared at Leeds Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing on Friday, where he was ordered to pay £17,275 compensation to Network Rail and had £8,522 confiscated.

Pearson will have 56 days to pay back the money. He was sentenced last May to 18 months in jail for the theft and 12 months, to run concurrently, for the converting of criminal property.

Leeds Crown Court heard how on five occasions between August 2011 and November 2011, Pearson was paid a total of £2,206.50 for live cable he traded in only hours after it had been cut from railway lines.