{"id":44518,"date":"2026-01-22T13:54:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=44518"},"modified":"2026-01-22T13:57:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T13:57:03","slug":"video-police-catch-three-openreach-broadband-cable-thieves-in-the-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/01\/video-police-catch-three-openreach-broadband-cable-thieves-in-the-act.html","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO Police Catch Three Openreach Broadband Cable Thieves in the Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bang to rights! The West Midlands Police<\/a> have a reason to be cheerful today after they arrested a gang of three people who were in the process of trying to steal Openreach<\/a>’s (BT<\/a>) copper broadband and phone cables from an underground site in central Birmingham, which most likely caused some significant and costly connectivity problems for locals.<\/p>\n

Firearms officers who were patrolling nearby were flagged down by observant members of the public as a group of men were trying to steal cables on Great Charles Queensway at around 7.30pm on Tuesday (20th Jan 2026). Two men were immediately arrested on suspicion of theft at the scene, and a van carrying cables was also recovered.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> Such thefts normally occur much later at night and often \u2013 but not always \u2013 in rural or suburban areas (slower police response) and around manhole covers, cables, poles and any other parts of the broadband network. It typically takes a small gang to conduct the crime.<\/div>\n

Shortly after that a third suspect was identified as still being 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<\/em>.” The video pasted below does a good job of depicting this part of the event. Three men, aged 48, 45 and 37, remain in custody today.<\/p>\n

Criminal gangs like this are often known to commit multiple thefts, frequently hitting parts of the same region several times before moving on. Suffice to say that these arrests may well have helped to prevent a string of similar incidents in the area and could potentially end up being linked to past events.<\/p>\n