Shipston man jailed for conspiracy to steal in connection to hospital incident

He was sentenced to three years and nine months imprisonment for conspiracy to steal.

The sentence originates from an incident that occurred on the evening of February 20, 2019, when Kent Police were made aware that a major incident had been declared by staff at the Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (QEQM) Hospital in Margate as there had been a power outage and it was causing significant concerns.

Patients in the A&E and ICU departments who needed electrical machines for life-support and drug administration saw their power provided by emergency battery power.

Patients needing the A&E departments had to be diverted to other hospitals around east Kent, causing a knock-on impact to ambulances which were having to travel further away, making them unable to attend emergency calls for longer periods of time.

The outage was first recorded by the hospital at 7.15pm and was not restored until around 10.45pm.

It was discovered that the power outage was caused by two damaged electrical cables connecting a large generator in the grounds of the hospital. The cabling had been cut through.

An investigation into the damaged cables was launched by the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate.

CCTV footage (shown) was caught of the moments before the power outage and showed five men wearing high-visibility jackets and hard hats pull up in a van and cut the cables with bolt croppers causing a small explosion.

The explosion caused the five men, James Kiely, Patrick Kiely, Thomas Kiely, Noel Mahoney and Jonathan Whitty to flee the scene.

Information about the vehicle used was shared with other forces and the following day the van was found by officers from West Midlands Police, leading to four arrests.

The fifth thief, Thomas Kiely, was arrested in London on April 3rd.

All five men were charged with conspiring to steal and also criminal damage with intent to endanger life.

At Birmingham Crown Court, all charges were admitted by the men, except James Kiely who denied he had intended to endanger lives by his actions.

Following a trial he was found not guilty on October 6.

All men were sentenced on Friday 8th November 2019:

James Kiely, 37, of Darlingscote Road, Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire, was sentenced to three years and nine months for conspiracy to steal.

Patrick Kiely, 35, of Devons Road, Bromley-by-Bow, London was sentenced to five years and eight months.

Thomas Kiely, 27, of Tower Hamlets, was sentenced to seven years and four months. The sentence also takes into account an unrelated burglary committed in the London area.

Noel Mahoney, 23, of Old Willow Close, Bow, London was sentenced to five years and three months.

Jonathon Whitty, 38 of Fairfield Road, Bow, London, was sentenced to six years and four months.