Stories of theft are not the normally covered by HSR, but a recent case of the theft of scaffolding from a building site is an exception.

Two men, who tried to steal €5,000 worth of scaffolding from a building site, were last month each sentenced to 20 months in prison. The men tried to steal the scaffolding from a site at Adamstown, County Dublin. As they were taking the scaffolding, they were spotted by a member of the public, who alerted the Gardai.

When the Gardai arrived, one of the men tried to escape by driving off at speed in a van but was stopped by fencing around the storage area. When stopped by the fencing, he got out of the van and attempted to run away. He was caught when he ran out of energy. One of the men had 41 previous convictions. The other had 21. (DPP v Reilly and Fitzpatrick: Dublin Criminal Circuit Court, April 2013)

Source: Health & Safety Review