Four Arrested Over Theft of Batteries from Broadband Cabinets in Kent UK

The Kent Police’s Rural Task Force arrested four suspects on Monday – three men aged between 37 – 57 and a 14-year-old boy, in connection with the theft of batteries from “telecoms boxes” (i.e. street cabinets using by broadband providers) and a large number of cables from across the South East of England.

A number of network operators put batteries in street cabinets, such as those used to house copper based broadband services (e.g. Openreach’s hybrid fibre FTTC service), which can cost around £500 each and usually kick-in during power outages. Unfortunately, such equipment, along with valuable copper telecoms cables, is often targetted by criminal gangs.

NOTE: Such thefts normally occur late at night and often – but not always – in rural or suburban areas (slower police response) and around manhole covers, cables, poles and any other parts of a broadband network.

However, the perpetrators of such crimes don’t always get away with it, particularly if they keep returning to the same area. In addition, networks operators like Openreach and Virgin Media are now coating more of their cables and network equipment with an “invisible” synthetic DNA and UV liquid tracer, called SelectaDNA, which makes finding and arresting those linked to such thefts a bit easier (here).

In this case, officers from Kent Police’s Rural Task Force traced a vehicle suspected to be linked to the theft of batteries from telecoms boxes around the South East to a location near Gillingham on Monday 7th October 2024. The investigation ultimately recovered more than 100 batteries, along with a lot of cables, the vehicle itself, a trailer, a vehicle engine and several heavy power tools. The police are currently in the process of trying to determine the origin of all the materials, and hopefully we’ll help a bit by publishing some of the pictures.

Four people have thus been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to steal and bailed while enquiries continue. Anyone who has information regarding the theft of telecoms batteries or cables and has yet to report it to police is urged to call Kent Police on 01843 222289 quoting reference 46/168070/24. You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or complete the online form on their website.

Recent Posts