Rogue Yorkshire scrap metal dealer Jonathan France arranged for £15,000 in cash to be stashed in toilet paper towel holder as he hid vast sums of money made from copper wire theft conspiracy

Jonathan France was bankrupt at the time he handled thousands of pounds worth of the high-value metal stolen from the Northern Powergrid.

France used a business associate's bank account to deposit over half a million pounds in a bid to hide his illegal wealth from creditors.

Large sums were then withdrawn from the account and delivered to the crooked businessman.

Details of France's offending were revealed at Leeds Crown Court as six men were jailed over a major copper wire theft conspiracy.Organised criminals would strip wiring after cutting down live power cables in over 250 incidents during a 17-month conspiracy.

Gang members would deliver the wiring to business premises operated by France and another rogue scrap metal dealer, John Crookes,

The court heard it has been an offence since 2013 to buy scrap for cash and dealers have to have identity documentation from the people they buy from.

Crookes used software which complied with legislation but falsified records and arranged for the gang members to use fake identity documents and driving licences.

Most of the stolen wiring was then sold on to France.

Crookes was responsible for handling 15,800kg of stolen wiring and paid out £55,247 to the thieves between September 2013 and May 2014.

His involvement ended when he wound down his business and arrangements were made to hand over 'customer' details to France.

A memory stick containing names, addresses and phone numbers of the men was given to France at a secret meeting.

In June 2014 Crookes sent a block text message to gang members telling them to contact a number operated by France.

France sent messages offering to arrange collection of the wiring and promising to pay 'in reddies'

Anthony Dunne, prosecuting, said records show France paid out £34,000 for copper linked to 65 theft incidents between July 2014 and February 2015.

France was banned from operating as a company director at the time of the offence.

In 2008 he was declared bankrupt but was able to fund a fraudulent six million pound life of luxury by ignoring laws banning him from being a company director.

France's deception enabled him to fund a fleet of Aston Martins, Ferarris, a Rolls Royce and a McLaren.

The former Wakefield scrap metal dealer was also able to buy a five-bedroom house in Huddersfield, spend almost £200,000 on high-end furniture and splash out £70,000 on fine wines.

He is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence, imposed in 2018, after pleading guilty to four counts of fraudulently transferring property, three counts of acting as a director while bankrupt, as well as one count each for failing to disclose property to the official receiver or trustee, perjury, fraudulent trading, false accounting and money laundering.

France channelled cash made from the theft conspiracy through the bank accounts of an associate who ran a car valeting business.

Money was diverted into his account and the man was allowed to keep up to five per cent in exchange for withdrawing cash and handing it over to France.

On one occasion the man was told to deliver £15,000 in cash and put it inside a paper towel holder in the toilets at France's business premises at Crigglestone Industrial Estate, in Wakefield.

Barclays became suspicious over the banking activity and asked him about the source of the money.

The man then began using a Lloyds account which was later frozen.

A total of £534,416 went through the accounts during the offending.

The court heard the prolific number of copper wire theft offences stopped as soon as the gang members were arrested.

Mr Dunne said the gang initially committed offences in the Castleford area but soon began travelling further afield.

Offences were committed across Yorkshire and the north east.

They also travelled to Lincolnshire and Norfolk on some occasions to commit offences.

The cost to investigate the offences and repair the damage caused during the conspiracy is estimated at £450,000.

The offenders were brought to justice after a lengthy investigation by a "small but dedicated" group of police officers.

None of the defendants co-operated with the investigation and refused to comment when interviewed.

In order to prosecute the men, the officers had to build up a picture of the offending using mobile phone records, automatic number-plate recognition records and business records.

Judge Andrew Stubbs QC commended detectives and police civilian employees involved in the investigation.

He said: "It is testament to the work involved, which went far, far above what should be expected of police officers."

Describing the offending, the Judge said: "All defendants accumulated easy money without a thought for the danger and inconvenience they left in their wake.

"Without handlers there would be no thefts."