Sims Metal Management in Reading foils metal thieves

The cannon had been stolen from outside the premises of local company, Johnson Matthey. Reading Site Manager, Melanie Woods, explains:

“Johnson Matthey called our Yateley metal recycling site asking if we could look out for two matching bronze cannons that had been stolen earlier that day. Yateley passed the message on to us along with a description of the cannon.  Later that afternoon, three men arrived at our site in a van and when Supervisor, Carl Lynch, looked inside the vehicle, he immediately realised they were the stolen cannon.  We politely told the men that we didn’t buy this type of material - whilst quickly making a note of their vehicle details. We then called the police and when they arrived, gave them the registration number of the men’s vehicle.”

Thanks to the vigilance of the team, the culprits were arrested later that evening and the cannon recovered.  Martin Allwright, of Johnson Matthey, visited the site to thank the staff personally saying: “Thank you all for your rapid response which helped us get our cannon back.  To be honest, we did not hold out much hope of ever seeing them again. They are of historical significance and have belonged to Johnson Matthey since at least the Second World War, so many of our staff took it as a personal insult when the cannons were stolen.  We are now having the damage repaired and considering relocating them to a safer place to show them off.” 

Sims’ General Manager for the Home Counties, Andy Hunter, said: “There is a lot of negative press coverage about metal theft around at present, so it is great when we have a success story like this where our employees are instrumental in helping the police solve metal theft cases. It shows that there are legitimate metals recyclers out there who actively support the communities in which they operate. Well done to our staff at Reading for their swift action in helping catch these criminals”

Melanie concluded:  “We were just doing our job but are pleased that the cannons have been returned to their rightful owners.”

Read Sims scrap metal dealing policy.