The final member of a mobile phone scam gang has avoided jail.

Jack Ashby, of Walker Street, near Preston city centre, was sentenced after admitting to conspiracy to commit fraud.

The 26-year-old was part of a five-man gang who tricked their way into getting dozens of iPhones and iPads from EE, reported Teesside Live.

Ashby, along with four other Preston men, used customer details to try to gain iPhones and iPads across towns and cities across the North of England.

The gang were caught in August 2015 after a failed fraud attempted at an EE store in Middlesbrough.

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Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorded of Middlesbrough, gave Ashby a 15-month prison sentence suspended for two years, a £600 fine and 100 hours unpaid work.

Ashby’s defence solicitor argued that he had not offended in three years and had a job to go to.

Four other men – David Walker, 28, Ryan Nuttall, 27, Jonathan Sowerby, 25, and Dale Grant, 28, all from Preston – were sentenced in September for their role in the fraud gang.