A YORK judge has warned that those who cause hours-long train delays and cost Network Rail millions of pounds by stealing signal cable will be jailed.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC was speaking as he sentenced a gang of metal thieves who targeted North York Moors Railway and the Esk Valley rail line.

Anthony Moore, prosecuting, said the four in the dock of York Crown Court together with another man already serving five years in jail, stole windows, luggage racks and other items from a depot at the heritage moorland railway and signal cable from railway tracksides and sold their loot to scrap metal merchants in Middlesbrough in 2013 and early 2014.

On one occasion, three of the gang arrived with nearly 150 kg of stolen cable at a merchants while police were there.

In 2013, National Rail spent £5.8 million on replacing signal cables. The cables stolen by the gang were part of a national modernisation to improve train times and reliability, he said.

The judge said: “Theft from the trackside of the railway is a blight on the economy and a blight on the people who use it. Immediate prison sentences will be imposed for those who do this in future.”

But because none of the gang had reoffended in the four years since they committed their crimes, he suspended prison sentences on three of them for 18 months each. The fourth received a community order.

Two of the gang are in work: David Alan Sayers, 39, of Chapel Street, Skinningrove, near Saltburn, Cleveland, pleaded guilty to handling metal items stolen from the North York Moors Railway and cable theft. He was given a 16-month prison sentence suspended on condition he does 180 hours' unpaid work and was also ordered to pay £800 compensation to the North York Moors Railway.

Ricky Bede Bowman, 33, of Larkswood Road, Redcar, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods and was given an eight-month prison sentence suspended on condition he does 90 hours' unpaid work and was ordered to pay £800 prosecution costs.

The other two sentenced by the judge were:

Jason Lee Hogarth, 43, of High Street, Skinningrove, who pleaded guilty to theft and handling stolen goods and was given a 14-month prison sentence suspended on condition he does 180 hours' unpaid work; and Robert McConnell, 31, of Angling Green, Skinningrove, who pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods. He received a community order with 60 hours' unpaid work.

Lawyers for the four said they were remorseful for their crimes.

Stephen Neate, 33, of Chapel Street, Skinningrove, was jailed for five years some months ago for a series of rural crimes including 12 months for his railway crimes.