FOUR men from Liverpool have been sentenced after breaking into hundreds of BT telephone exchanges across the country including locations in Dalton and Newby Bridge.

Craig William Denson, Thomas Pugh, Craig Butterell and Anthony Warriner appeared at Preston Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced after breaking into hundreds of telephone exchanges between 2013 and 2014.

The four men, who had previously worked for sub-contractors carrying out work on behalf of BT, broke into a number of exchanges over a period of time, including locations in Dalton and Newby Bridge.

They used fraudulently obtained ID passes to gain access into the telephone exchanges and steal batteries worth in the region of £80,000 in total. The gang was caught and brought to justice by detectives in South Cumbria.

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 also due to be heard to attempt to recoup some of the approximately £80,000 generated by the sale of the stolen batteries.