A gang responsible for stealing almost £1m worth of BT Openreach network cable from across the UK, including Wrexham, have been jailed for combined total of 14 years. 

Billy Lee Junior, Levi Lee, Samuel Sheady-Jones and Ashley Byford targeted cable and plant material in rural locations across Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and in Wrexham.

The group would travel in 4x4 vehicles which displayed false registration plates, access manhole covers containing cable, cut it and winch it to the vehicle.

The cabling, which ran for several miles underground would be dragged out using the vehicle. As a result, thousands of customers lost service, including homes and businesses.

The offending meant a loss to BT and other victims of more than £750,000, with wider costs to home and business customers never fully being known due to the significant outages caused as a result.

During one offence in Earith, Cambridgeshire, police arrived to find a 4x4 vehicle in a field with evidence of stolen cable around it.

When items in the vehicle were forensically tested, officers were able to identify 24-year-old Billy Lee Chivers Road, Stondon Massey, Essex.

A detailed investigation by Essex Police's serious and organised crime unit followed a trail of evidence left by the group.

That work led to three others being identified: Levi Lee, 22, of Chivers Road, Stondon Massey, Samuel Sheady-Jones, 23, of Cefn Mawr, Wrexham, and Ashley Byford, 26, of Thames Avenue, Chelmsford.

In total the investigation team was able to link the group to 31 offences over a nine-month period.

An arrest warrant being carried out by Essex PoliceAn arrest warrant being carried out by Essex Police (Image: Essex Police)

Arrests

In September 2022, officers scaled a wall outside the Chivers Road property and executed warrants at a number of properties.

Both Billy Lee Junior and Levi Lee were arrested and within Billy 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 whilst £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 handle of the drill provided a DNA match to Ashley Byford, who was subsequently arrested in Chelmsford.

Guilty pleas

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

The were sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, October 25 .

Billy Lee Junior was sentenced to a total of four years and eight months in prison.

Levi Lee was sentenced to a total of four years and five months in prison.

Samuel Sheady-Jones was sentenced to three years and seven months in prison.

Ashley Byford admitted to counts of conspiring to steal and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

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Detective Inspector Frazer Low said: “This group caused widespread disruption, across a number of areas in England and Wales over a nine-month period.

“There was a significant impact on Openreach as a business totalling more than £650,000, which includes the cost of replacement of copper cable, materials, labour and any traffic management and civil engineering costs.

“There was also an indirect financial cost to the business and its customers, with 16,000 customer lines disrupted and I have absolutely no doubt that the offences caused vulnerable people to be cut off from family, friends and assistance in an emergency.”

DI Low added: “This group may have thought they were acting under the radar and weren’t going to get caught. But unfortunately for them, we were able to piece together their movements and their actions and ultimately prove unequivocally that they were responsible.

“The evidence and information which Openreach was able to supply played a large part in helping us build our case against the group and I’d like to thank them for working so hard alongside us. Ultimately, this work has resulted in a group of people being brought to justice.”

Emma Sandison, Openreach Security Director, said: “Cable thefts are hugely disruptive. The loss of phone and broadband is not only inconvenient but can put vulnerable people at risk. Repair work also pulls our engineers away from other work, can take weeks to finish, and costs thousands of pounds.

“We take the security of our network seriously and have a wide range of crime prevention tools to prevent thefts and catch those responsible. Our dedicated security team investigates all attacks and our network is alarmed and monitored 24/7 by our control centre.

“We’re pleased to have worked with Essex Police and others in a multi-agency approach which has had a positive outcome.”