Junee copper thief caught on camera

THE owners of Junee’s former hospital are calling on the public for help after the site was once again targeted by thieves—this time by a man caught on camera stealing copper pipes.

Security footage obtained by The Junee Bulletin shows a man using an angle grinder to cut and remove lengths of copper piping from the site, which has been plagued by break-ins and vandalism since it was gutted by fire in 2021.

The brazen theft is believed to have occurred late last week, with co-owner Chris Blanchard telling The Bulletin he discovered the pipes missing on Saturday.

“We’ve been targeted several times,” Mr Blanchard said.

“The last time was a couple of weeks ago when our builder caught someone in the act, but he got away. Police responded quickly but couldn’t take action as our cameras weren’t working at the time.”

A man was caught on security camera hacking lengths of copper out of Junee’s former hospital | Source: Supplied

The former hospital building, which dates back nearly a century, has become a magnet for copper thieves in recent years.

In one previous incident, newly installed piping was ripped from the walls and stolen.

Mr Blanchard said the repeated theft and damage is making it increasingly difficult and costly to restore the historic site.

“It’s not just the cost of the pipe, but the cost to have it reinstalled when it’s stolen,” he said.

The incident comes just days after a group of people were caught pilfering copper from a skip bin behind the town’s former railway barracks—now known as Junee Rest House—in Crawley Street.

That incident occurred in the early hours of last Monday.

A Main Street resident told The Bulletin she called police after catching the thieves in the act.

“They woke me and my family as they were rummaging through the skip bin,” she said, requesting anonymity.

“We saw a white car with no windows stealing what looked to be copper from the site. We called police around 1am and they attended pretty quickly, but they weren’t able to track the car because it had no number plates.”

The latest theft at Junee’s former hospital has been reported to Crime Stoppers. The owners are urging anyone who may recognise the man in the footage to come forward.

They are also reminding the public that the site is private property and monitored by surveillance cameras. Any acts of trespassing or vandalism will be reported to police.