A SCRAP thief who followed in a friend’s footsteps found they led straight to the arms of the law.

Blackburn magistrates heard Kevin Andrew Leonard was caught red-handed as he stole wire and metal from the water tower at the Sappi Paper mill in Blackburn.

And he told police he had initially gone to the site to recover tools left behind by a friend who had been arrested in similar circumstances a month earlier.

Leonard, 29, of Accrington Road, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to burglary and theft of wire and metal. He was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said Leonard was spotted by a security guard and when police arrived he was still inside the tower. He was told to come down and police recovered a bag containing metal and some tools.

Damian Pickup, defending, said Leonard had not taken the tools with him, intending to remove scrap.

“He went to retrieve the tools for a friend who had left them behind when he was arrested on a previous occasion,” said Mr Pickup. “When he got there temptation got the better of him.”