BROTHERS SENTENCED FOR CABLE DEATH HORROR
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15 August 2011
with pics of defs
cable…1
Two thieves who abandoned the body of their accomplice when he was electrocuted as they tried to steal copper cable have been were jailed for a total of more than eight years.
Brothers John and Jason Tusting, 26 and 23, saw 28-year-old James Smith die as the trio cut cable acting a railway substation near Sydenham Railway Station in southeast London.
The stolen cable was sold to Peckham scrap dealer GH Metals for £340 at about the time the body was discovered on the morning of December 4 last year.
Mr Smith had suffered horrific burns and was discovered lying near a pile of bricks, naked from the waist up with his mobile phone and car keys taken from his pockets.
The brothers, who between them have 23 convictions largely from working as a criminal ‘team’, were on a cocktail of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine at the time, Blackfriars Crown Court heard.
They had not considered the risks involved of stealing the cable and said they only did it ‘for a laugh’.
Their actions put the public in danger as they risked disrupting signals, and put police and railway workers in jeopardy during the search for Mr Smith’s body.
Jason Tusting had anonymously called 999 but lied about the exact location of the incident in a bid to avoid being caught.
Simon Taylor, prosecuting, said the siblings had ‘tried to conceal their activities and in effect created a false crime scene, thereby delaying the discovery of the body’.
Thousands of commuters on the busy south London line were stranded as police searched for Mr Smith’s body on tracks around the area for more than two hours.
John Tusting who also suffered severe burns, was taken to hospital at around 7.23am in agony from arm and leg injuries.
He peddled a string of lies to distance himself from the accident, first telling paramedics he had been set on fire by three men who had doused him with petrol.
The thief later told doctors he had been drunk and simply woke up with the injuries, but now claims it happened when he tried to save Mr Smith.
He was arrested five days’ after the incident, when he was still in a burns unit.
The brothers admitted burglary and criminal damage recklessly endangering life. Jason Tusting also admitted perverting the course of justice.
Judge John Hillen concluded they both posed a ‘significant risk to the public of serious harm by the commission of further specified offences’.
He stopped short of jailing them indefinitely, but said each must serve an extended period on licence once they are released from custody.
Judge Hillen added: ‘Both of you abuse drink, cannabis and cocaine, both of you persist in stealing, both of you have convictions for possession of bladed articles and Jason has a conviction for a public order offence.
‘Since you are not concerned about how you go about stealing, there are substantial grounds for believing that you will be prepared to commit further offences.’
The judge jailed Jason Tusting for four years and eight months and extended his licence by a further 28 months.
John, who has been smoking skunk since he was 12, was sentenced to four years, with a licence extended by a further 24 months.
The court heard Jason, giving the false name ‘Josh Tusting’, rang 999 claiming he had been waiting for a train at Sydenham station when he saw a ‘flash of light’ and a man fall to the trackside.
But the location he described was ‘some distance’ from the substation where the power supply had tripped two minutes earlier at 5.30am.
Jason’s identity was revealed when a suspicious officer tracked him down and checked his hands for a distinctive scar recorded on his police file.
His DNA was later found on Smith’s lips – suggesting he had tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation before fleeing from the scene.
James Rouse, defending, insisted John had tried to save Mr Smith, and had suffered ‘serious injury’ resulting in permanent scarring.
The barrister said: ‘He saw him being electrocuted and did try and pull him away.
‘When he had a chance to run or stay and help he did stay, although it meant he ran the risk of serious injury.
‘That perhaps says more about him than any other mitigation.’
The thief, whose criminal record includes convictions for burgling a primary school, stealing a car and possessing a knife in public, was arrested on December 16 in the burns unit of Lewisham Hospital.
Jason’s record includes criminal damage, affray, theft, and drink-driving.
His barrister Nick Robinson said he had also tried to help by calling for an ambulance and trying to give him the kiss of life.
‘There was evidence of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth,’ he said.
‘The circumstances were recklessness, immaturity and stupidity – the risk of harm was entirely inadvertent.’
But Judge John Hillen said: ‘You two, together with the deceased, planned to steal copper piping from a substation serving the main commuter line between London and the Kent coast.
‘The risks involved to yourself, to railway employees and members of the public is clear from the evidence that has been placed before me.
‘The electrical works necessary for a modern railway system were interfered with, causing a danger not only to you, and your confederates in crime, but also ultimately danger to the public.
‘In order to remove what you intended to steal thieves need to get a vehicle next to where the substation is and that can involve gates being left open, fencing pulled down or damaged.
‘Interference with cabling creates an even more obvious danger of death.
‘On this occasion you were equipped with a vehicle to carry your stolen metal.
‘You forced entry, ripping open the grille.
‘Once there a large quantity of earthing cable was cut.
‘The effect was to remove one of the two functioning earths and so that anyone touching the live feed would act as an earth.
‘That was the act that probably caused his death.
‘It happened to be one of the burglars that died.
‘It could have been anyone entering that substation.
‘Family and friends are here today.
‘He may have been a thief but he was someone’s parent, son, friend.
‘Nothing I can say can bring him back nor can his loss be measured by a prison sentence.’
Remarking on the fact the victim’s pockets were emptied in an effort either to conceal his identity or the circumstances, the judge said: ‘I cannot say it was either of you.
‘But this is one of the lowest depths to which anyone can sink.’
The judge added that ‘such was the greed and callousness’ of Jason, that he was out selling the metal during the search.
‘It almost beggars belief,’ said the judge, to gasps from the dead man’s relatives, ‘that you could be so heartless when the gain was £342’.
Jason Tusting, of Brockley Mews, Honor Oak, south London; and John Tusting, of Burnt Ash Hill, Lee, also south London; admitted burglary and criminal damage recklessly endangering life.
Jason Tusting also admitted perverting the course of justice.
They waved at tearful family members gathered in the public gallery as they were led away.
Amid emotional scenes, some members of Mr Smith’s family appeared happy with the result while others stormed out in tears.
ends
