CYBERCRIME CASES
 

R v Ackroyd and Others (Southwark Crown Court 2013)

In 2013 Kevin was led by William Harbage QC defending in the high–profile computer hacking case of R v Ackroyd, & others, involving members of the Lulzsec / Anonymous ‘hacktivist’ group who were alleged to have conspired to cause in excess of £30 million of loss and damage to international corporations such as News International and Sony, and state agencies including the CIA by hacking and DDoS crashing their sites. Ackroyd was alleged to be the technical wizard (or ‘router’) who facilitated much of the activity. The case was prosecuted by London Complex Casework Unit. This was one of the biggest and most complex cybercrime / Computer Misuse cases yet tried in the UK. The Defendants were skillful and highly technically adept hackers. The served evidence amounted to almost 50,000 pages of material, including expert reports; IRC chatroom logs; instant messaging and social media feeds, with a further 250,000 pages of material served as Unused. The case against the defendants stemmed from the use of a participating CHIS by the FBI. See: http://tinyurl.com/ntzlu7s

R v Floate (B’ham Crown Court 2015)

Kevin was instructed to prosecute this case by the Complex Casework Unit – W.Mids. The Defendant eventually pleaded guilty (May 2015) to offences on two indictments: (1) Computer Misuse offences (including: conspiracy to launch DDoS attacks on an FBI website and the Home Office website; and hacking into two private individuals’ computers – one of whom the Defendant videoed masturbating, then posted the video on YouTube); and (2) possession of prohibited images. The evidence in this case included material recorded by a key stroke logging program which appears to have been covertly downloaded onto the Defendant’s computer; extensive forensically recovered data; and social media feeds. The Defendant submitted a basis of plea which disputed the extent of his involvement and the seniority of his role within the conspiracy. A lengthy Newton Hearing took place on 19-20.08.15. The prosecution called evidence from an expert officer from West Midlands Regional Cybercrime Unit. The Prosecution case included the delivery of an interactive PowerPoint presentation, with embedded video excerpts. The Recorder ruled entirely in favour of the Prosecution, and rejected every disputed assertion made by the Defendant in his basis. See: http://tinyurl.com/plruxax

R v Sullivan (Liverpool Crown Court 2015)

Kevin defended in this DDoS case. The Defendant pleaded guilty to an indictment containing 21 counts of Computer Misuse. He admitted launching DDoS attacks against a range of targets including BA, the police and other governmental agency sites. The evidence required experts to investigate the use of proprietorial software packages used to launch and manage such attacks (so-called ‘DDoS as a service packages. See: http://tinyurl.com/qy2y298

R v Neale (Guildford Crown Court 2015)

Kevin defended in this case. The Defendant pleaded guilty to offences of Computer Misuse. The Defendant was the ex–director of a company offering mobile device security software and services to corporate clients. Having left the employ of the company he continued to access their databases and systems, and that of a corporate client. He admitted that he altered and deleted data from business critical systems. The attack on the corporate client was investigated by IBM. See: http://tinyurl.com/puonu94

R v Vasan (Croydon Crown Court Jan 2017)

Kevin prosecuted in this case where the Defendant was convicted after trial of raping and sexually exploiting an underage girl as part of a wider internet based commercial sex web-camming network. He was sentenced to a total of 19 years imprisonment. See https://tinyurl.com/hnn4956

R v G (Northampton Crown Court 2016)

Kevin drafted the pre-charge advice and was instructed in the subsequent prosecution involving Computer Misuse Act (hacking) offences committed by a disgruntled ex-employee of a software company.

R v Street (Chelmsford Crown Court, Dec 2016)

Kevin was instructed to prosecute by ERSOU in this case where the defendant pleaded guilty to selling DDoS facilities to others on a commercial basis, and to using the notorious Blackshades software to harvest passwords and user details for the purpose of fraud – a (£9k confiscation order made at sentence). See https://tinyurl.com/jumd2z7

R v Chappell (Manchester Crown Court 2017 - ongoing)

Kevin is instructed to prosecute in this ongoing cybercrime case at Manchester Crown Court, where the Defendant has pleaded guilty to Computer Misuse Act offences, principally arising from the launch of DDoS attacks. He currently awaits sentence.

R v Turner (Cambridge Crown Court Jan 2017)

Kevin was instructed to prosecute by ERSOU in this case which demonstrated the intersection of offending under the Computer Misuse Act, commercial criminal enterprise, and sexual offences. The Defendant was a computer hacker who used malware to infect private individuals devices (including that of a child), giving him access to their webcams, which he then covertly used to record private activity (Voyeurism); he also hacked into their files and retrieved a mass of personal photos and documents. He marketed malware packages online on a commercial basis, offering IT support for potential customers. He also refused to comply with a s.49 Notice to Disclose a Key (s.53(1) and (3) RIPA 2000, in relation to a pair of external hard drives. He was sentenced to 3 years – 10 months of which was for the RIPA offence. See https://tinyurl.com/h5r3tff

Kevin has prosecuted, defended and advised in numerous other cases with cybercrime / digital evidence including indecent, prohibited and extreme images (including advising CPS Special Casework Unit in relation to images of bestiality discovered on a serving police officer’s computer); ‘cyber bullying’; and serious sexual cases with social media and digital evidence.

SERIOUS CRIME CASES

R v Dillon (St Albans Crown Court, 2014)

Murder. Kevin led for the Crown and secured the Defendant’s conviction after trial. The Defendant had stabbed a young man through the heart. The case raised interesting questions concerning sentencing where a knife is brought to the scene, considered by the Court of Appeal. [2015] EWCA Crim 3 [2015] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 62

R v Porter (Cambridge Crown Court, 2014)

Kidnap, threats to kill and rape. Kevin prosecuted in this case where the defendant was convicted of kidnapping his wife and subjecting her to a terrifying ordeal during which he repeatedly raped her and threatened to kill her.

R v Ishaq and Choudhary (Northampton Crown Court 2015)

Proceeds of Crime (POCA). Kevin secured confiscation orders for in excess of £500,000 in this case, with a background of international money laundering.

R v X (2016 – on-going)

Fraud. Kevin prosecutes in this complicated investment fraud case where losses are estimated at over £1 million. Guilty pleas have been secured.

CONSUMER AND TRADING STANDARDS

Leicester City Council v Rohman & Others (Leicester Crown Court Feb/March 2017)

Kevin recently successfully prosecuted the biggest ever UK food substitution fraud trial. This case had complex issues of law and fact arising from a 2 year Fraud Conspiracy conducted by multiple defendants. The case arose from the importation of over 100,000kg of turkey meat that was not certified as Halal, which was then sold on nationally to Islamic meat businesses as Halal lamb. The conspiracy is estimated to have netted over £750k. The case required careful consideration of aspects of the Food Safety Act and Food Safety and Hygiene Regs. The case gave rise to particularly sensitive issues arising from targeting by the defendants of the Islamic community in E.Mids for sale of this non-Halal meat, and consequently attracted considerable press attention. The two Defendants convicted were each sentenced to 5 years imprisonment. Click Here and Click Here

LCC v X & Y (Leicester Crown Court, ongoing)

Kevin represents one of two Defendants accused of Fraud and CPUT offences arising from used car sales.

OCC v Manley and RAD Trading (Oxford Crown Court, Jan 2017)

In early 2017 Kevin defended in this prosecution of the UK’s biggest manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer of notorious Legal High/New Psychoactive Substances. The prosecution was brought using General Product Safety Regs (led). Click Here

Middlesbrough Council v Y Ltd

In 2016 Kevin advised a local authority in relation to the proposed prosecution of a major national online retailer for CPUT offences in relation to unfair pricing practices. The case involved complex issues of law, and consideration of a very large volume of evidence, including material supplied by the National Trading Standards eCrime Team.

BIS and Luton BC v Hussain (Luton Crown Court, May 2016)

Kevin defended a man who faced a joint prosecution by BIS and Luton Borough Council. D had run a security / burglar alarms business and was accused of Companies Act / Fraud, Insolvency Act , CPUT, and Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations offences. Limited pleas resulted in a suspended sentence.

LCC v Kataria (Leicester Crown Court 2016)

Kevin successfully prosecuted a second-hand car trader for fraud (Fraud Act and CPUT offences). Click Here

Norfolk CC v Hambury and Wyatt (Norwich MC 2015)

Kevin prosecuted two ‘legal high’ ‘hed shop’ owners for selling unsafe products under General Product Safety Regulations 2005.

Chester CC v Flat Earth Three and Elman (Chester MC 2013)

Kevin Defended the company and director of a ‘hed shop’ selling legal highs in Chester. CPUT offences. The case was halted by the Judge after defence submissions in relation to failures by the prosecution and the sufficiency of the evidence, with NG verdicts entered on all charges (led). Click Here

LBC v Websaver and Others (Leicester Crown Court 2012)

Kevin defended in this franchise investment fraud case, involving allegations that the defendants made over £1 million selling web-based business discount franchises (led). Click Here

Writing:

Since 2010 Kevin has been the Intellectual Property editor of the leading practitioner textbook known as “the Pink Book” -  Consumer & Trading Standards - Law & Practice (Jordans 2013, 2015, 2017 eds).

He is also the money laundering editor for Modern Financial Regulation (Jordans 2013 & 2017 eds).

Seminars and Lecturing: 

Kevin has lectured widely on Consumer Protection law, including at the NTSB annual conferences. He has recently delivered training to consumer lawyers on eCrime; the use of open-source online research techniques and evidence; disclosure; Copyright and Trademark offences; and the use of private prosecutions in this field. He also lectures extensively in on Cybercrime.