TWO members of a Romanian metal theft gang have been spared jail with the other accomplices now on the run.

Dumitru Danila, 24, and Adrian Novac, 38, both appeared at Cambridge Crown Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to burglary at an engineering company’s premises in Letchworth GC.

The pair, along with Padure Florin, 39, and Alexandru Grecu, 45, admitted stealing metal from Geo W King in Blackhorse Road in June when they last appeared in court in September.

Last Friday’s sentencing for the four Romanian men, who all live in Colindale Avenue in Hendon, London, was due to take place the week before but was delayed as an interpreter was needed.

Grecu and Florin failed to attend, with the judge issuing a bench warrant for their arrest.

Dimitru was given a nine-month sentence suspended for two years, will have to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay �300.

Novac was given a two-month sentence suspended for two years, will have to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay �300.

The sentencing comes amid a change in the law which will be mean from December 3 it will be illegal for scrap merchants to buy metal for cash. Dealers will be required to only use electronic payments or payments by cheque, as well as record details of those that make payments to, in a bid to combat metal thefts.

There will also be significantly increased fines for key offences, with the most serious breaches resulting in fines of up to �5,000.

Hertfordshire Constabulary has been carrying out Operation Devon to crack down on metal thieves.

Detective chief inspector Tannis Perks said: “We have been focusing on those stealing metal and damaging infrastructure for the last couple of years and have seen a fall in the number of incidents occurring in the county. This new legislation gives us even more tools to combat this kind of crime and will hopefully drive offending levels even lower.”