Cable theft continues to be rife and exceedingly disruptive and dangerous. On safety risk alone, those removing cabling from traffic light systems need to be viewed under a far more widespread crime framework. The penalties for the removal of overhead rail cable should be viewed in a similar light, as should be the case with all deliberate damage to infrastructure for financial gain.
Treating such wrongdoing as economic sabotage would acknowledge its serious impact. Deliberately destroying services that allow people to link up with economic opportunity is worsening an economy already in bad shape. Moreover, the burning of cabling by thieves to ensure that they are not electrocuted is exceedingly dangerous and destructive subversion in itself and must not be allowed to continue. 