Four men have been charged with criminal damage to cables that left a hospital’s A&E department without power for four hours.

The department at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate urged patients to stay away and ambulances were diverted after the power cut. A number of patients had to be moved.

Kent police said four men had been charged over what they described as an attempted theft of the cables.

Noel Mahoney, 23, of Bow, east London; Patrick Kiely, 35, of Bromley-by-Bow, east London; James Kiely, 37, of Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire; and Jonathon Whitty, 38, of Bow, were charged with one count of criminal damage with intent to endanger life and one count of attempted theft.

They were arrested in the Birmingham area and were due before magistrates in the city on Saturday.



The hospital said in a statement that power went out shortly after 7pm on Wednesday as lines, including some connecting the building to the backup emergency generator, were damaged.



Other backup systems maintained power for critical equipment and Kent firefighters supplied emergency lighting as staff worked to repair the cables. Power was restored just before 11pm.

Ambulances were diverted to the William Harvey hospital in Ashford, nearly 40 miles (65km) away, during the power cut.

A spokesman for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital said: “Staff were able to repair the damaged cables and reinstate power just before 11pm and the staff on site worked quickly and safely to return to normal operating.”