Gang who stole Openreach cables 'cost BT £1m'

Billy Lee, Levi Lee and Ashley Byford (pictured left to right) accessed manhole covers across four counties

A gang who stole BT Openreach network cables, which cost the company "about £1m" to replace, have been jailed.

Police said Billy Lee Junior, Levi Lee, Samuel Sheady-Jones and Ashley Byford travelled in 4x4s with false registration plates and accessed manhole covers across Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Wrexham, Wales, in 2022.

They cut the cables, which ran for several miles underground, and winched them out causing thousands of BT customers to lose service.

The men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and were sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday.

Officers scaled a wall to conduct their warrant

Police found a 4x4 vehicle and a cable in a field in Earith, Cambridgeshire, in 2022.

It was forensically tested and linked to Lee. In September 2022, officers executed a warrant at his home.

Both Junior and Lee were arrested, and within Lee’s property, officers found a bag containing four large bundles of cash totalling £40,000.

Another £10,000 in cash was found in the same caravan, while £4,000 was located in a box in nearby dog kennels.

Officers also found a winch and wire cutters, a Mitsubishi Shogun 4x4 and a Makita drill. Forensic examination of the drill handle provided a DNA match to Byford, who was subsequently arrested in Chelmsford.

"The investigation team was able to link the group to 31 offences over a nine-month period," a spokesman for the force said.

Police found thousands of pounds in cash at a caravan site

The group was due to stand trial in September but instead entered guilty pleas and all admitted conspiracy to steal.

• Junior, 24, of Chivers Road, Stondon Massey, Essex, also admitted possessing criminal property and was sentenced to a total of four years and eight months

• Lee, 22, also of Chivers Road, was sentenced to a total of four years and five months in prison

• Sheady-Jones, 23, of Cefn Mawr, Wrexham, was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison

• Byford, 26, of Thames Avenue, Chelmsford, was sentenced to 16 months in prison

'Monitored 24-7'

Det Insp Frazer Low said the group caused "widespread disruption".

BT said replacement copper cables, labour, engineering and new alarms cost the business about £1m.

Emma Sandison, Openreach security director, said repair work can take weeks and "pulls our engineers away from other work".

She added: "Our dedicated security team investigates all attacks and our network is alarmed and monitored 24-7 by our control centre."