Dressed in their orange high-vis jackets, this gang of workmen down a manhole would usually pass as nothing more than an ordinary everyday irritation.
But in reality, it appears the crew in contractor uniforms were actually brazen thieves, duping the authorities in a plot to steal underground electricity cables.
In police bodycam footage from Tuesday evening in Birmingham, three men were caught emerging from a manhole cover – just yards from a police station.
Armed officers and their dogs are seen swarming around the hole in the ground after they were tipped off by members of the public at around 7.30pm.
They were spotted allegedly trying to steal cables on Great Charles Queensway in the city centre, which is located close to West Midlands Police HQ Lloyd House.
Bodycam footage captured the moment one of the suspects climbed up the ladder as police called for him to come out.
One police officer can be heard shouting: ‘Police with a dog! Come out now or the dog’s coming in!’
And as he emerged from the tunnel, another officer said: ‘Good evening, keep coming up the ladder.’
Three men, aged 48, 45, and 37, were arrested and a van loaded with cables was seized by police.
On Wednesday, West Midlands Police said in a statement: ‘This is the moment we arrested a gang of suspected underground cable thieves in Birmingham city centre.
‘Firearms officers who were patrolling nearby were flagged down by members of the public as a group of men were trying to steal cables on Great Charles Queensway at around 7.30pm yesterday.
‘Two men were arrested on suspicion of theft and a van carrying cables was recovered.
‘We were made aware of that a third suspect was underground, and officers, with the help of Police Dog Riot encouraged him to climb up the ladder and onto the street, where he was also arrested on suspicion of theft.
‘Three men, aged 48, 45 and 37, remain in custody today.’
Det Supt Dave Sproson, of Birmingham Police, added: ‘This was a fantastic response from our firearms, dogs and Birmingham officers, in bringing three suspects into custody quickly.’
The alleged theft comes after a gang was jailed in March last year for diverting the electricity supply to power more than 100 secret Albanian-run cannabis farms.
The men, who dressed in high-vis jackets, worked under the cover of being a legitimate company called Elev8 Civils and Utilities.
They then would use barriers to illegally cordon off areas, dig up pavements and splice into electricity cables.
Their audacious daylight robbery enabled electricity worth millions of pounds to be abstracted into producing at least £21million worth of drugs, investigators said today.
As well as being criminal, their actions – which covered 32 different police force areas across the UK – were also highly dangerous.
On a mobile phone belonging to Elev8 Civils and Utilities director Andrew Roberts, 42, police found a shocking image of him with his face purple and singed, apparently caused by one of the cables they cut into blowing up.
Meanwhile footage seemingly filmed by a concerned householder showed small explosions as the gang dug into electricity lines on a street in Middlesbrough.
The group was headed by Roberts, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, and fellow company director Ross McGinn, 33 from Huyton, Merseyside.
Both men had LinkedIn profiles in which they posted photos of apparently legitimate work to promote the company.
They pleaded guilty to encouraging and assisting an offence believing it will be committed, conspiracy to abstract electricity, and conspiracy to steal.
Sentencing them in March last year at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge David Potter said all the defendants were ‘driven by greed’.
Their work was ‘pivotal’ in setting up cannabis farms, he said.
He added: ‘They did so often in broad daylight and in plain sight. They used the cover of liveried vehicles, signage, barriers and high visibility clothing to appear as though they were carrying out legitimate street works.’
McGinn, on videolink from prison, wiped away tears as he was jailed for five years and four months.
Roberts was sentenced to six years.
Graham Roberts, 47, of Wigan, who pleaded guilty to encouraging and assisting an offence and conspiracy to abstract electricity, was jailed for five years and three months for his key role as the jointer responsible for splicing and connecting live cables.
Groundworkers Greg Black, 29, of Huyton; Lewin Charles, 22, of Roby, Merseyside, Aiden Doran, 28, of Wigan, and Jack Sherry, 20, of Wigan, all pleaded guilty to encouraging and assisting an offence and conspiracy to abstract electricity.
Black was jailed for three years and nine months, Charles for two years and eight months and Doran was sentenced to three years.
Sherry was given a 22-month sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.
White, who stole the equipment, was jailed for two and a half years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to steal and encouraging or assisting the abstraction of electricity.
