A MAN who caused a power cut to 12,000 homes after attempting to steal copper piping and cable from an electricity company’s substation has been jailed for 18 months.

At Oxford Crown Court on Thursday, Romanian national Firical Buruiana, of Balmoral Road, Northampton, admitted attempted burglary at Southern Electric’s Islip Fuel Depot on August 12 last year.

The 31-year-old father-of-five, who came to the UK a year ago to earn money to send home to his family, caused a power cut to the homes in Islip village for three hours after cutting through and stripping the cables.

His car, DNA and fingerprints from the site connected him to the attempted burglary.

He caused an estimated £6,000 worth of damage.

Sentencing, judge Gordon Risius said: “The removed pipes and cables were found by the authorities already stacked up and awaiting removal. “But they were not in fact removed from the site and that is the reason you have been charged with attempted burglary.

“As is now well-known, this kind of offence will cause damage, expensive repairs and temporary power loss to local communities. It is on the increase and has got to be stopped.”

He added: “I accept that you need to supply your wife and five children back in Romania with funds but this is not the way to go about doing so.”