TWO men have admitted taking part in a metal raid on a Blackheath factory which went tragically wrong when two of their accomplices were gassed.

The dead men suffocated when one tonne of carbon dioxide was released after they accidentally set off a fire suppression system while stealing copper at the disused Fontana factory on the Excelsior Industrial Estate in Cakemore Road.

Their surviving accomplices Jonathan Deeming, aged 24, of Foxglove Road, Dudley, and Craig Bull, aged 18, of Maple Road, Dudley, pleaded guilty to burglary for their parts in the bungled raid.

Deeming was sentenced to six weeks in prison at Halesowen Magistrates' Court on Friday (June 13).

Bull was given conditional bail for a report to be prepared before he is sentenced on July 10.

The two dead men are 35-year-old electrician Steven Gough, of Pebworth Grove, Dudley, and 42-year-old Colin Martin, of Foxglove Road, Dudley. An inquest into their deaths was opened and adjourned on Tuesday (June 16).

The court heard the four men were stealing copper from the disused nuts and bolts factory at around 11.20pm on Wednesday (June 10).

They had set up a system of pulleys and levers to hoist the heavy metal before the raid.

Barry Sealeaf prosecuting told the court Bull was the lookout while the gang attempted to steal around two tonnes of copper from an electricity sub-station in the factory.

Mr Sealeaf said one tonne of carbon dioxide filled the room the two men were in within three seconds after they somehow set off the fire suppression system.

Deeming was rescued by emergency services who had been called by Bull.

Paul Selby, defending Deeming, said his client, who was on his way to swap places with Bull at the time of the incident, had a very narrow escape.

Mr Selby said Deeming “heard a loud bang and the release of gas and was pulled away by emergency services.He owes his life to the quick-thinking of Mr Bull.”

Deeming will have to serve an additional 14 months in prison because he is on licence for robbery.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said the deaths were a tragedy for the families concerned and a grim reminder of the stark dangers facing people who entered disused industrial premises.