FOUR criminals from Liverpool who broke into hundreds of telephone exchanges across the country and stole equipment worth £80,000 have been brought to justice by a team of dedicated detectives from Barrow.

Craig William Denson, Thomas Pugh, Craig Butterell and Anthony Warriner were sentenced at Preston Crown Court on Thursday.

The case centred on the replacement of batteries at BT exchanges across the country. Employees of BT would go into the exchanges, replace the old batteries for new batteries and leave the old batteries – worth around £90 - to be collected and recycled.

However, it became clear that hundreds of these old batteries were missing from exchanges around the country, including in Cumbria at Dalton and Newby Bridge.

The four men, who had previously worked for sub-contractors carrying out work on behalf of BT, broke into hundreds of telephone exchanges across the country between 2013 and 2014.

The gang used fraudulently obtained ID passes to gain access into the telephone exchanges and steal batteries worth in the region of around £80,000.

A team of detectives, led by Detective Sergeant Andy Lamb, took on the investigation and managed to track down the criminals following a high-speed chase in North Yorkshire.

Detective Constable Ben Falvey, based at Barrow, was highly praised for his work on the investigation, along with Detective Sergeant Wayne Dixon.

Superintendent Rob O’Connor, in charge of policing in South Cumbria, said: "This was a highly organised group who made significant financial gain from their crimes.

"They travelled the country and my officers worked with a number of other police forces to trace and arrest those responsible.

"The sheer dedication and hard work of all those involved ensured that this team were brought to justice.

"Although Cumbria may be seen by some as being an easy target, this should send a strong message to travelling criminals that if you come to Cumbria to commit crime we will pursue you and look to arrest you and place you before the courts."

DS Andrew Lamb said: “These men made tens of thousands of pounds out of stealing batteries and scrap cable from British Telecom. We are committed to tackling Serious and Organised Crime and this should serve as a warning to other criminal gangs wanting to commit crime in Cumbria.

“Officers from Cumbria Police worked closely with colleagues from British Telecom to secure these convictions in what was a complex investigation across UK.”

Bosses at telecoms giant BT thanked the Cumbria detectives for bringing the gang to justice.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "BT applies the most rigorous procedures to ensure the security of its property and assets, working closely with the police and other organisations to prevent crime and track down offenders.

"We would like thank DS Lamb and his team and Cumbria Police for their efforts in bringing this to court. They are a small rural force and dedicated significant resources to help apprehend and prosecute a gang from outside their force area, who were committing offences across the UK."

Denson, 23, of Paignton Close, Liverpool; Pugh, 25, of Bowring Park Road, Liverpool; Butterell, 39, of Berrywood Drive, Prescot; and Warriner, 27, of Johnson Avenue, Prescot; had pleaded not guilty at an appearance at Furness Magistrates' Court in Barrow but were convicted after a trial.

Butterell and Denson were each given a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for two years while Pugh and Warriner were each given an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. All four were also ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

An application is due to be heard on February 24 to attempt to recoup some of the £80,000 generated by the sale of the stolen batteries.