A scrap metal yard manager told a court how he turned away away a lorry and its load of scrap copper because he believed it may be stolen.

Ryan Eastwood received a phone call in March last year asking if he wanted to buy some copper but thought the caller was joking when he said he had 18 tonnes.

He was giving evidence in a trial of five men at Canterbury Crown Court accused of conspiracy to steal the lorry and its load and an alternative handling charge against one of them.

The Crown claim lorry driver Thomas Spain, 50, faked a heart attack in a layby on the A2 just outside Canterbury and was taken to hospital and while the lorry was unattanded it was driven away by his nephew Andrew Jones, 34, and his friend Rodney Stacey, 33, who had been waiting in an opposite layby.

Mr Stacey drove Mr Jones to the lorry in his red Toyota MR2 sports car then followed the lorry as it in turn followed a van driven by Trevor Coats, 34 to London and Kent Metals at Symmonds Drive, Sittingbourne.

Mr Coats was in regular touch with Mr Stacey and also involved fifth man Carl Martin, 48, who contacted the scrap yard.

Mr Eastwood was operations manager at the firm which was owned by his father, Gary, and had known Carl Martin for a number of years, buying scrap from him and he phoned on March 4 offering the copper for sale.

“I thought he was joking because of the current value of that sort of material and the tonnage of it. He said it wasn’t a joke he definitely had the material and did I need to talk to his friend.

“I asked if it was all above board and ok and assumed it was copper cable from Network Rail. He said it was fine, there was nothing wrong with it,” said Mr Eastwood.

He said he would need to see the load before agreeing a price which depended on the grade which in March last year was £4,000 to £4,200 a ton. After the call, he returned to work, not really expecting to see the load.

Not long after, he was told the lorry was outside and he said he needed to take a look.

The lorry pulled onto the weighbridge and he was then told there was no paperwork with the load.

Carl Martin asked Mr Eastwood if he could lose the lorry as well and he then suspected the vehicle and its load could be stolen.

“As soon as I was asked to lose the lorry, I asked them to leave the yard.” He voiced his suspicions to Mr Martin who replied 'ask no questions tell no lies’. Later during police interviews, Mr Martin denied saying this.

Mr Eastwood said he was assured the load wasn’t stolen but had come from a continental yard. He still believed it was stolen and asked them to leave.

He called his father from the office then police arrived and arrested three of the men, Carl Martin managing to slip away and was arrested later.

The accused are Trevor Coats of Becketts Close, Hastingleigh; Andrew Jones of Kings Road, Aylesham; Carl Martin of Bassett Road, Sittingbourne; Thomas Spain, 50, of St Francis Road, Folkestone and Rodney Stacey of Hamilton Road, Deal.

All deny conspiring to steal the lorry and its load in March 2008. Martin denies alternatively handling the goods.

The trial continues.