Using 4x4s with false number plates, they spent nine months targeting rural areas in England and Wales.
They broke open manhole covers, cut and dragged out BT Openreach cable running miles underground, then winched it on to a vehicle.
Billy Lee Jnr, 24, Levi Lee, 22, Samuel Sheady-Jones, 23, and Ashley Byford, 26, caused a £750,000-plus loss to BT and other victims including families and businesses.
The gang homed in on cable and plant material in Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Wrexham.
Denne historien er fra November 04, 2024-utgaven av Daily Express.
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Denne historien er fra November 04, 2024-utgaven av Daily Express.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Hands-on Arteta already planning for the next era
MIKEL ARTETA celebrates his 250th game in charge of Arsenal today - and has already mapped out the future with the Gunners hierarchy.
Unai said: Until you can prove yourself you're a Championship player in my eyes
TOUGH love has transformed Morgan Rogers into a Premier League thoroughbred.
No place like a prize home for Omaze winner
ECSTATIC Sarah Perry has won a £500,000 home near her Powys roots in an Omaze draw and given her husband the shock of his life.
Back beside the seaside 52 years on
FUN-LOVING pals reshot a snap from their first holiday together - 52 years ago.
'Harshita, you left this world but are still in our hearts'
Family's tribute to body-in-boot wife
Factory farming costs taxpayer £1bn a year
THE factory farming of animals costs taxpayers almost £1billion a year, a study has found.
'Our beautiful one-of-a-kind Simone had a spark for life'
THE parents of a British lawyer who died after allegedly being served drinks laced with methanol in Laos say they are \"devastated by the loss of our beautiful, kind and loving daughter\".
Strictly Sarah: I didn't believe I could do lifts ...but look at me now
NEWLY confident Sarah Hadland has ditched her panic about bare legs, fake tans and doing ballroom lifts to become a firm favourite to win Strictly Come Dancing.
Down thunder! Aussie TV camp soaked
THE I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! camp has been battered by torrential rain, which could lead to the contestants being evacuated.
300 jabs a minute to event tripledemic’
AN NHS vaccination blitz is delivering more than 300 jabs a minute to tackle a deadly \"tripledemic\" of flu, Covid and respiratory syncytial virus.
