A SOUTH Petherton delivery driver, offered a quick buck in return for helping to steal some scrap metal from a private driveway, ended up taking the rap when police caught him red handed.

The owner of the property in Charlton Mackrell was woken in the early hours of the morning by his garage alarm and discovered that lengths of copper piping and several bags of scrap metal had disappeared.

Attempts had also been made to jemmy the garage door open, but after the police were alerted they found Paul Matthew Davies driving his van in Martock, and after a short foot chase he was detained.

They discovered a large amount of scrap metal in his van and although he told them it belonged to his parents he later confessed he was involved in the theft.

He said he had been offered £250 by a “man he could not name” to help them steal the items by using his van, Somerset Magistrates were told.

Davies, 26, of Mere Lynches Close, pleaded guilty that on January 18 at Charlton Mackrell he stole scrap metal worth £900 belonging to Basil Morris when he appeared before the court at Yeovil.

Prosecutor Andrew Escott-Watson said that after Mr Morris contacted the police at around 3.30am an officer was in the centre of Martock when he saw a van and followed it into Steppes Meadow due to the time of night.

“The defendant, who was driving, stopped and then fled and was chased and caught and when the officer went to the car he found a large amount of scrap metal inside,” he said.

“When he was interviewed Davies said the scrap was from his parents’ house and they were short of money, but during a second interview he apologised for telling a complete pack of lies.

“He said that a man he couldn’t name, due to fear of repercussions, had asked him if he would like to earn some cash and he was told to steal the metal from an address in Charlton Mackrell.

“He said they were going to pay him £250 and they met him there and helped load up the goods into his van using wheelbarrows while he sat at the wheel, and then left separately using their own car.”

As a result of the incident the victim’s garage door was damaged and he also had the cost of recovering all the stolen metal costing him a total of £290.

Greg Peters, defending, said that Davies had not been in court since 2011 and was petrified that he would be sent to prison.

He said the other men involved in the theft had since been texting the defendant saying that if he “dobbed them in” then he would be in trouble.

“My client lives with his partner in her mother’s house in a single room with their two children and at the time was employed by delivery firm DPD and hopes to return working for them soon,” he said.

“He was required for the job because of the use of his van and he remained inside the vehicle while the others went back and forth with their wheelbarrows.

“The items have all been recovered and there has been no financial loss in that regard to the victim and Davies has also written a letter to the court expressing how he feels about being here today.”

He added that his client wanted to be a role model to his family and was ashamed and embarrassed about what he had done but accepted committing the offence.

The magistrates told the defendant there had been some degree of planning involved and sentenced him to a 12 month community order with a requirement to carry out 200 hours unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £290 compensation to Mr Morris along with £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.