THE FAMILY of two cash-strapped men who pinched electrical cables from their Didcot employer sobbed as their loved ones were sentenced.

Electricians Peter Harlow and Simon Wilson admitted stealing BrightWire cabling from Diamond Light Source, based at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.

Harlow, 69, was jailed for six months while Wilson, 34, was handed a three-month sentence, suspended for two years, with a 200-hour unpaid work requirement.

Sentencing at Oxford Crown Court on Monday, Judge Patrick Eccles said: "Both of you were trusted employees who had been with the company for a significant amount of time.

"Nobody for a moment thought that either of you were going to be involved in this."

Prosecutor Cathy Olliver said the company installed covert cameras in its boiler room, where reels of the BrightWire were kept, after noticing cabling was going missing in 2014.

She said the pair were spotted entering the room and using a hydraulic cutter to remove three to four metres of cabling.

Ms Olliver said officers discovered the hydraulic cutter, which had been missing for "some time", and was "concealed" by the thieves in their locker room.

She said officers also found receipts showing cabling was sold to Southampton company European Metal Recycling for £5,827.59 after searching Harlow's vehicle.

The prosecutor added about one foot of cabling was also found in the locker room.

Defence barrister Adrian Amer said Harlow, who had worked at the company since 2006, admitted stealing £10,000-worth of cabling between September 2012 and February 2015.

He added: "They were very foolish, stupid acts of an elderly gentleman who has never been in trouble before."

Mr Amer said Harlow, of Eastleigh, Hampshire, was facing "increasing pressure" to support his step-daughter financially after she split from her ex-partner.

He said Wilson, of Ashcombe Close, Witney, who had worked at the company since 2011, got himself into debt and stole the cabling between June 2014 and February 2015.

Mr Amer added: "It's very sad to see somebody turning to crime in order to pay off debts when they have found themselves, possibly through no fault of their own, in financial difficulties."

Both men were also ordered to pay a victim surcharge.