Three men have been convicted after breaking into fire stations across London and stealing life-saving equipment worth more than £100,000.

East London men Jermaine Okakpu, 26, Jack Edwards, 20, and Luke Sixsmith-Hughes, 22, targeted up to 24 fire stations in a crime spree throughout August and September last year.

They broke into fire stations in nine London boroughs, including Lewisham, as well as Dartford, stealing high-value equipment including thermal imaging cameras, uniform and radios.

Police believe they were stealing the equipment to sell overseas.

Edwards and Sixsmith-Hughes were arrested in a vehicle in Silvertown on September 15, where police recovered a battery for a thermal imaging camera stolen the same day from a fire station in Lewisham.

Further investigation linked the two men to burglaries at 24 other premises, with some broken into on more than one occasion.

Okakpu was identified as being involved in the conspiracy and was arrested on September 24, before he later admitted involvement in eight burglaries.

In January, Sixsmith-Hughes and Edwards pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary, before they were both jailed for three years.

Today Okakpu was sentenced to two years, suspended for 21 months, after he plead guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary in July.

Detective Sergeant Robert Walls said: "Those involved showed a total disregard for the potential impact these losses could have had on the fire service's ability to respond to fires and other critical incidents.

"The most frequently stolen items - thermal imaging cameras - are used by the fire brigade to locate trapped persons and to stop fires spreading.”

London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson added: “This was life-saving equipment that was stolen and its theft could potentially have had an impact on our ability to respond to Londoners in need of our help.

“I sincerely hope that the sentences handed down deter anyone else from attempting to break into our fire stations.”