Gang Jailed for Openreach Cable Thefts, Costing BT £1 Million

Members of a group responsible for stealing BT Openreach network cables, leading to replacement costs of “about £1m” for the company, have received prison sentences. According to police, Billy Lee Junior, Levi Lee, Samuel Sheady-Jones, and Ashley Byford utilized 4×4 vehicles equipped with false registration plates to gain access to manhole covers in various locations, including Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and Wrexham, Wales, during 2022. The individuals severed these underground cables, which extended for several miles, and subsequently extracted them using a winch, resulting in service disruptions for thousands of BT customers. All the men admitted guilt to charges of conspiracy to steal and were sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday. In 2022, law enforcement officers discovered a 4×4 vehicle and a section of cable in a field located in Earith, Cambridgeshire. Forensic analysis of these items connected them to Lee. Subsequently, in September 2022, officers carried out a warrant at his residence. Junior and Lee were both apprehended, and inside Lee’s property, officers located a bag containing four substantial bundles of cash, amounting to £40,000. An additional £10,000 in cash was discovered within the same caravan, and £4,000 was found in a box situated in adjacent dog kennels. Furthermore, officers recovered a winch, wire cutters, a Mitsubishi Shogun 4×4, and a Makita drill. A forensic examination of the drill’s handle yielded a DNA match to Byford, leading to his arrest in Chelmsford. A spokesman for the force stated, “The investigation team was able to link the group to 31 offences over a nine-month period.” Although the group was scheduled for trial in September, they instead submitted guilty pleas, with all members admitting to conspiracy to steal. Detective Inspector Frazer Low commented that the group was responsible for “widespread disruption.” BT reported that the expenses for replacing copper cables, labor, engineering work, and new alarm systems amounted to approximately £1m for the company. Emma Sandison, Openreach security director, noted that repair efforts can extend for weeks and “pulls our engineers away from other work.” She further stated: “Our dedicated security team investigates all attacks and our network is alarmed and monitored 24-7 by our control centre.” Information regarding Essex news is available on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram, and X. This content is copyrighted by BBC 2024, with all rights reserved. The BBC states it is not accountable for the content of external sites, and information on its external linking policy is provided.