A scrap metal dealer has been found guilty of taking in memorial plaques stolen from cemeteries and then cutting them up into small pieces in an attempt to disguise them.

Some of the plaques were still screwed to the stakes used to plant them at cemeteries across south London including Croydon, Teddington, Putney Vale and Beckenham.

And footage shown to the jury during Joseph Collier’s trial at Croydon Crown Court showed some of the plaques were still caked with fresh mud and grass.

Yesterday the jury found the 72-year-old guilty of two counts of possession of criminal property and one count of disguising criminal property.

The verdict comes 29 months after police raided DSM scrap metal merchants in May 2012 as part of a London-wide crackdown on metal theft.

When police entered the premises in Bensham Lane, Croydon, officers found several bags and boxes containing hundreds of memorial plaques that had been stolen from cemeteries.

Wandsworth Times:

Bags of stolen plaques were found at DSM scrap metal merchants

Officers also discovered a large bronze dragon statue (pictured below) that had been stolen from an address in Teddington, as well as a statue of Jesus Christ, which had been stolen from Putney Vale Cemetery.

Wandsworth Times:

In order to identify where the plaques had been stolen from, officers from Croydon spent several hours painstakingly piecing them back together.

Collier was arrested and charged with offences the following day and was bailed pending his court appearance.

Detectives trawling through CCTV seized at the yard found footage that showed Collier overseeing the cutting-up of the memorial plaques by his staff - plaques that he claimed at court, that he had no knowledge of.

Wandsworth Times:

Joseph Collier's staff use cutting machines to chop up the stolen plaques

In March last year, suspicious that Collier was continuing to receive stolen goods whilst on bail and awaiting his trial, police contacted UK Power Networks.

They concocted an undercover operation where an officer sold eight brand-new reels of copper wiring to him.

These reels were stamped with UK Power Networks and the officer, who was named Paul for the operation, told him to be careful and get rid of them quickly.

Investigating officer Sergeant George Shannon said: "I can only describe Collier's attitude throughout this whole process as brazen.

“He tried to deny any knowledge of receiving stolen items, but some of the memorial plaques even had the mud and wall plugs attached.

“There was little doubt that he knew they were stolen and he had absolutely no regard for the law.

Wandsworth Times:

Croydon officers worked to piece the plaques together to find out where they had been stolen from

“His actions, in accepting stolen metal, have fuelled other criminal activity by thieves stealing metal to make a quick profit by selling it to unscrupulous scrap dealers like Collier.

"Metal theft has a huge impact on society - be it through delays on train networks where cabling has been stolen, or the emotional effects associated with the theft of memorial plaques.

“The majority of registered scrap metal dealers are operating correctly, but we will continue to target those who don't and will bring the full force of the law against them.

"Now that he’s been found guilty of these offences, we will certainly be considering further action against Collier under the proceeds of crime act to look at confiscating any assets he has gained through his criminal activity.”

Collier, of Woodhall Drive, Dulwich, will be sentenced at the court on November 3.