'Electricians’ Underground Drug Plot Blows Up!

coming up on this week's news a drug gang posing  as electricians causes an underground cable to   explode We Salute six of the best inventions  by the trade for the trade and the electrician   who found love during an interview welcome to  electrical news weekly whether you're listening   in the van on site or down at the wholesale  counter I'm Joy Robinson and I've been through   the best of the electrical industry news to save  you the trouble and this week's challenge word  

competition is supported by our friends over at  Brady printers they're exhibiting at the elect   show at Ali pal in London on the 27th and 28th of  March you're running out of time to confirm your   slot there so book your tickets to see the great  kit they've got on offer and if you think you've   spotted the two words that I've been challenged to  slip into this week's show comment with them below   for the chance to win a prize an organised crime 

gang posing as electricians caused an underground  

cable to explode in a bid to steal electricity  for a cannabis farm the incident which left one   of the men with serious facial Burns was one of  many Reckless attempts to get free power for a   nationwide drug Enterprise worth £21 million  wearing hi's jackets they dug up high voltage   underground cables and in some cases closed off  roads in a Brazen operation to obtain free Power a   registered utility firm complete with branded Vans  barriers and signage was used as a front company  

it allowed the men to work in plain sight in  total they conducted no fewer than 54 digs across   the country The Fearless criminals succeeded in  connecting lots of buildings to the grid this way   including empty houses pubs shops a nightclub and  in one case a disguised department store the gang   then filled them with cannabis plants the the  stolen electricity was used to run grow lights   and ventilation systems for the illicit plants at  Liverpool Crown Court Judge David Potter said the  

men had shown little or no regard to safety the  court heard the workmanship shown by the gang had   been slipshot and dangerous in quality electrical  expert Andrew Churchman analysed the standards of   the work carried out by the gang he said that in  his opinion the quality of cable laying jointing   and terminating of the cables was done to a very  poor and in some cases dangerous standard their   live jointing was particularly bad and led to 

number of explosions one of which caused serious   Burns to the face of gang member Andrew Roberts  also involved in the conspiracy was Scottish   Power engineer Colin White from Wavertree in  Liverpool White stole equipment from the energy   company's Liverpool Depot to use in the illegal  Works lawyers said the British crew stole the   electricity for Albanian gangsters who ran the  Cannabis Farms Judge Potter passed sentence on   a total of eight men with terms ranging up 

to six years in prison for the ring leader  

Stay Energy Safe the service run by Crimestoppers  on behalf of the energy sector says it's seeing   more cases like this it points out that theft  is not a victimless crime when criminals steal   electricity they create life-threatening risks  for everyone around them their poor wiring and   overloaded circuits can lead to fires while  exposed wiring can lead to electrocution stay   Energy safe says electricians are on the front  line and can spot signs of energy theft before  

anyone else by reporting meter tampering you can  help break gangs involved in human trafficking the   exploitation of vulnerable people coerced into  drug farms and illegal crypto mining reporting   is free and your anonymity is guaranteed I'll  pop the link to the stay Energy safe website   in the show notes still in the courts a judge has  fined an electrical contracting firm a third of a  

million pound after an electrician was killed by a  falling switch gear cabinet Alan Mulhall died when   the equipment weighing 760 kg fell and struck his  head the incident happened in the plant room of St   Patrick's Hospital in Dublin in 2017 Mulhall was  working on a project to upgrade a generator the   court was told that he wasn't wearing a hard hat  at the time however an engineer report into the   fatality concluded that the hat would have offered 

no protection from his injuries Judge Martin Nolan   said the evidence showed the plan to transport and  unload the switch gear was a totally misconceived   idea he said that anybody looking at it would say  it was a very potentially dangerous exercise which   was fraught with danger the equipment should have  been moved by mechanical means not manually Mr   Mulhall's employer John Fletcher limited of Port  Arlington County leash pleaded guilty to breaches  

of the Irish safety Health and Welfare at work  act 2005 judge Nolan fined the company a quarter   of a million pounds and imposed a separate fine of  £4500 on company director David Fletcher Mulhall's   Widow Vikki said that mistakes had cost her her  husband and her children's father their lives had   been shattered and would never be the same again  once again the eFIXX team would like to extend our   deepest condolences to the family and friends of 

Mr Mulhall another tragic and needless death now  

Welcome to our electrical news weekly feature  where we focus on a specific product area this   week it's all about you specifically inventions  and Innovations by electricians for electricians   the sort of thing where you think how did I live  without this before the eFIXX team has considered   and cogitated okay let's call it what it is argued  and we've come up with what we reckon are the six   best Innovations created by the trade they're  all designed to solve a real world problem in  

the field first up is a safety device invented  by Birmingham electrician and EFIXX 30 under   30 Award winner Neo Mosudisa Mosudisa once had  to isolate a faulty water cooler but realised   there was nothing suitable that evening he came  up with the idea for the spurlok it's a fuse spur   lockout kit which makes safe isolation easier a  clear label warns occupants and shows who locked   out the unit it's made from tough ABS plastic  and complies with the 18th Edition electrician  

Ben Grant came up with the idea for the lighthouse  control system while working on a lighting project   in a customer's house he was looking for a way to  tidily contain a number of wireless controllers   the lighthouse unit contains an isolator a  series of pre-installed Wireless receivers   and a manual override switch all wrapped up in  an elegant housing it has quick fit connections   so you don't have to laboriously wire up each  individual receiver in fact you don't even need a  

screwdriver you can connect to your phone and set  switching and dimming scenes also developed by an   electrician is a simple new device for speeding  up the installation of lighting pendants pull   cords and smoke alarms in fact it helps attach  anything to plaster board that requires one or   two screws Chumpfix is a perforated piece of  plastic about the size of a small ruler you   push it up through a 25 mil hole usually the same  one for the cable and then flatten it by pulling  

the handle you then screw through the plaster to  reach one of its many holes it means you don't   have to use wall plugs and it helps to spread  the weight of the light across the ceiling it   also minimises the risk of plasterboard failure  caused by drilling near the edges and we've all   been there this Innovation is now available in CEF  and all good wholesalers the Stanic Duo has been   invented by electrician Michael Gavaghan it's a  simple idea that's definitely in the why didn't  

they think of this before category the stanic  duo is a special socket outlet for cookers it   combines a cooker Flex outlet plate with a 13 amp  socket so it's perfect for both wired and plugin   ovens and Hobs so you can hook up your cooker  into the plate and plug in the hob ignition too   it's compatible with cable sizes up to 10 mil  and features m3.5 screws for secure connections   and just a sweet little point the name Stanic  comes from Michael's two daughters Stacy and  

Nicole what a lovely touch that is another  invention we love at eFIXX is the electrismo   time-saving adapters these make it super easy to  screw a face plate onto a backbox they deal with   the issue of fiddly screws damaged threads and  even pierced wires the funnel at the top of the   adapter guides the screw in it also protects the  screw from inadvertent contact with the internal   cables avoiding Earth faults and short circuits  use the white version if the original thread is  

intact and if you've got a box where the original  lug is banjaxed not this week's challenge word by   the way use the red version as this contains  a threaded brass insert making it super easy   to do the socket up a much better solution than  shoving in a toothpick and trying to get the screw   to bite last but definitely not least is a device  for locating the cables you've installed in the   ceiling the cableboss CB01 secures the position  of the twin and Earth between cable joists this  

means they can't be moved by the guys doing the  insulation or ceiling or by the plasterers using   the mobile app you can also record the location  so you'll never lose a cable again the CB02 and   CB03 are designed for commercial installations and  are a super quick method of providing fixings for   cable runs and conduit our final product this week  wasn't developed by an electrician but we had to   include it because it's simply awesome and it's 

certainly going to be loved by them the WagoBox   Pro is a junction box if Carlsberg made junction  boxes it's designed to handle multiple conductors   making it great for extending ring final circuits  loop in loop out lighting and connecting twin and   Earth to flex we love it so much we gave it the  ultimate honour of a dedicated video starring The   One and Only Rick the link as always is in the  show notes where you'll also find links to the  

videos we've done on some of the other products  in this week's product Focus that's our electrical   news weekly Roundup of products we think deserve  some attention next week we're going green for   Renewables the results of our question of the  week are in as part of the free training package  

on safe isolation that we made in association with  Megger we asked you if a 20 amp double pole switch   complying with BSEN 60669-1 could be used as an  isolator the answer is no it can't on YouTube a   less than scintillating 21% of you got it right  on LinkedIn things were a little better and 37%   said no alarmingly over half of respondents on  both platforms thought it was okay it's not I'd   recommend the training to anyone who's feeling  Rusty the link of course is in the show notes  

and before we go a bit of a budding love story  in February 2025 a Queensland electrician named   Mitch participated in an interview conducted by  Olivia from the job search app get ahead during   the conversation the interview took an unexpected  and delightful turn when Mitch asked Olivia out   on a date to which she enthusiastically agreed the  video of this interaction went viral amassing over   1.6 million views with viewers expressing Keen  interest in the budding romance following the  

interview Mitch and Olivia enjoyed a successful  dinner date and hinted at Future outings capturing   the hearts of many who followed their story young  love if anyone watching knows Mitch or Olivia let   us know how it goes hopefully they're so happy  they're doing spontaneous jazz hands now our usual  

reminder that we're in the market for your stories  your projects and your recommendations as we'd   like to share them with the wider eFIXX community  over the next few weeks we'll be featuring   Renewables and Fire Safety and Security so send us  pictures of your installs or let us know if you've   come across any new kit that's making your job  easier or any products that you think deserve a  

shout out and just before we get to your favourite  bit of the show where I reveal last week's   challenge words and winners we want to thank our  premium Partners we couldn't make the news without   you first up they're the people who've created the  Swiss army knife of solar inverters along with all   weather batteries very much the Boy Scouts of  the solar industry it's Sunsynk and speaking   of solar with manufacturing powered by a massive  250 megawatt solar PV array they're literally the  

greenest test instrument maker in Europe both  physically and ethically it's KPS now are you   a bit of a control freak motor control that is if  so with huge stocks in excellent service check out   Crompton Controls as they said to me in a recent  conversation if we don't have it then we can build   it with their new award-winning Lumo consumer unit  and offering Complete product support from their   highly train team it's CPN Cudis don't forget to 

use the code eFIXX30 to claim your 30% discount   on top quality light fittings from Phillips and  Ecolink download the Lumxpert app today and make   your life easier and less expensive it's the light  of Our Lives Signify and the best thing to come   out of Yorkshire since stainless steel the home  of EV Ultra and other groundbreaking and quality   products it's Doncaster Cables click the links  in the show notes to find out more about these   great Brands if you think you know the words that 

I've smuggled into this week's show pop your guest  

into the comments take all the correct guesses  and select one at random to be the winner of an   eFIXX goodie bag prize answers submitted after  about lunchtime on the Thursday after release   will not be entered into the draw now let's  reveal the winners of last week's challenge   word competition supported by our good friends at  Brady printers don't forget to book your tickets   to join them at the elex show at Alexandra Palace  on the 27th and 28th of March last week's words  

were snazzy and doodle and no one at all got  them both which means all bets are off and I   can do whatever I want with the competition so  this week I'm going to give the win to blippy 25   58 because you got one of the words right and  you told us that you loved us well we love you   too blippy and to prove it you've won so make sure  you click the get involved Link in the show notes   to claim your prize thanks for listening to this  episode of electrical news weekly make sure you're  

subscribe to receive the next update thanks for  listening and until next time have a great week   stay safe out there and remember there's  no such thing as a torque calibrated arm