A fuming company boss who was bitter and upset at losing a lucrative contract for electrical work on a prestigious London hotel project took revenge by sabotaging huge expensive units that were ready to be delivered to Canary Wharf for fitting.
Alexander Smalley went to the Hull site where the high quality units were being made for use in building the hotel. They were awaiting imminent transportation but Smalley deliberately cut the all-important cables and electrical wiring because, after a dispute with another company over invoices, he did not want the other sub-contractor to “benefit from his work” on the hotel project, Hull Crown Court heard.
Smalley, 32, admitted causing criminal damage to office modules, belonging to Module-AR Ltd in Hull. The original value put on 16 modules involved was £450,000. He also admitted stealing cable roll, belonging to Sleaford Building Services, on July 3, 2023.
Chloe Pinches, prosecuting, said that Module-AR Ltd, a company based in Hull, used a sub-contractor called Sleaford Building Services for work. SBS was specifically contracted to work on a project making modules for a hotel that was being built in Canary Wharf, London.
RLS Site Services was contracted by SBS to undertake the electrical work that was needed for each module. “The defendant is the director of RLS,” said Miss Pinches.
“At the time, the contract between RLS and SBS had been terminated after a disagreement over invoices. The defendant was told not to return to any of the sites. However, MAR were not aware of this, hence why access was granted. The defendant was not given any permission to take any items from the site.”
But on July 3, 2023, a worker came on to the site at 6.30am. “He was made aware that RLS were also on site, which, at the time, was not unusual,” said Miss Pinches.
“At around 7.30am, his line manager told him that electrical cables in the modules had been cut and thrown on the floor. Those modules were ready to be transported to Canary Wharf.
“MAR had arranged for wagons to transport the modules, a crane to install them – and the units had already been wrapped.” After viewing the CCTV of the factory floor, the worker identified Smalley entering the factory with an unknown male.
“The footage shows the defendant picking up a wheel of core cable,” said Miss Pinches. “The defendant is also seen to enter the modules and cut the cables and electrical wiring while the unknown male is seen to video this on a mobile phone.”
The worker recorded a telephone call later that day with Smalley where he admitted cutting the cables to make sure that SBS would not benefit from his work.
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The court heard that Smalley pleaded guilty to theft and causing criminal damage on the basis that he accepted liability for the matters and only disputed the value of the damage and the value of the cable. The prosecution accepted his version of events. The case had originally been listed for trial but Smalley pleaded guilty.
He had convictions for four previous offences but for nothing similar or relevant. His most recent offence was assault last year.
Smalley, of Milbanke Close, Earl Shilton, near Leicester, was given a one-year suspended prison sentence and 100 hours’ unpaid work.