Brothers sentenced in Northampton court after stealing half a ton of beer worth £4.300... but received nothing after being double-crossed by a fellow burglar.

Jerry O'Driscoll, 33, of Patterdale Walk, off Churchill Avenue, and Thomas O'Driscoll, 52, of Eskdale Avenue, off Broadmead Avenue, both pleaded guilty to theft after stealing twelve 11-gallon beer kegs from Whittlebury Hall, near Towcester, last year.

They took part in the offence after being made "an offer they couldn't refuse'"of £50 from a third party.

None of the beer, worth an estimated £4,300, has been recovered since the incident.

At around 7.45pm on February 18 2016, the O'Driscoll brothers and a third offender, who has not been identified, approached Whittlebury Hall in a white van.

The brothers were caught on CCTV as they pulled up to the beer storage area, where Jerry O'Driscoll got out of the van with a pair of wire cutters.

The men stole the 12 kegs, loaded them into the back of the van and drove off.

In sentencing, Recorder Nigel Daly said: "I understand you were approached to take part in this act when money was short and you were made 'an offer you couldn't refuse.'

"You say you were offered £50 for your involvement. This is a sum you never saw as the third offender in this case drove off with the beer without paying you.

"I have to sentence you today for trying to steal quite a lot of beer. You did it under a suspended sentence. You deliberately stole this beer to order, and you would not have got a great deal of money for it."

Jerry O'Driscoll, a father of three children, one of who is three-weeks-old, was sentenced to four months imprisonment.

Thomas O'Driscoll was sentenced to eight months.