Barnsley man nearly killed in business park theft
Thursday, 01 July 2010 15:16

A 59 year old Barnsley man was nearly killed today as he was hit by a transit van driven by three men trying to make off from the scene of a crime.

The man, an employee of recycling specialists SR Recycling suffered cuts and bruising to his head, bruising to his back and injuries to his leg. He was taken to Barnsley Hospital where he was said to be comfortable while further examinations were carried out. The three men were later arrested by South Yorkshire Police.

The incident follows a series of criminal activity at Oakwell Business Centre, Barnsley where businesses have been targeted by criminals who drive onto the business park on a daily basis. The Business Park is owned and manager by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

The incident occurred shortly after 1pm today when the three men were seen loading scrap waste belonging to SR Recycling into their own van. When they were approached by members of staff from SR Recycling they offloaded the material in the belief they would be free to go. When they realised they were not, they tried to make their getaway, which is when the 59 year old man, father of Managing Director, Simon Robinson, was hit by the van.

"We have been telling Barnsley Council that we were at risk on this site for years, but we never realised it would come to this. If the van had hit my father one foot the other way he could have been dead; I have no doubt about that. The situation is ridiculous. It's like we have had to go back to basics and literally physically defend ourselves and our property on a daily basis. Barnsley Council needs to take responsibility for the security on the business park and make sure our property and our employees are safe.

"We have been telling the Council for years now that the security is ineffective and outdated. The CCTV is completely useless and the Council has recently taken the decision not to lock the gates. The message sent out to criminals is that they can come onto the site as and when they like," said Simon Robinson, MD of SR Recycling.

Today's incident follows an almost identical event just over three weeks ago when men drove a van onto the business park and loaded a van with scrap steel from a skip outside the SR Recycling offices. Although the van drove by the CCTV cameras twice it did little to deter the criminals. The very next day they returned for more only to find employees of the company waiting for them. One man was later charged with theft.

"We are faced with this problem all the time. We run a legitimate business recycling waste from businesses and organisations but it seems these criminals believe they can simply pull up and drive away with our property. It's bad enough that they are hitting the profitability of our businesses but when it comes to people nearly being killed someone needs to do something and it needs to be fast," said Simon Robinson.