HHJGLEDHILLQC

SOUTHWARKCROWNCOURT

REGINAVJAMESJEFFERY

SENTENCINGREMARKS

13APRIL2012

Policeofficersattendedyourhomeaddressinpossessionofasearchwarrantintheearlyhoursof
the9thofMarch2012.Youwerearrestedonsuspicionofcommittingcomputermisuseoffences.You
weresubsequentlychargedwiththe2offencesInowhavetosentenceyoufor,namely,causinga
computertoperformafunctionwithintenttosecureunauthorisedaccesstoaprogrammeordata
heldinacomputer,contrarytos1(1)and(3)oftheComputerMisuseAct1990andmaking
unauthorisedaccesstoacomputerwithintentofimpairingtheoperationofthatcomputer,contrary
to3(2)oftheAct.Youpleadedguiltytobothoffencesatthefirstappearancebeforethe
MagistratesCourtonthe10thofMarch2012.Youarethereforeentitledtomaximumcreditfor
pleadingguiltyattheearliestopportunity.

Atthetimeyoucommittedtheseoffencesyouhavestrongviewsaboutabortionyoubelieveitis
morallywrong.Iknowthatyouarenowsayingthatthiswasnotso,butitisconfirmedbywhatyou
saidtoacorrespondentonTwitterafteryouhadrevealedyouhadhackedtheBritishPregnancy
AdviceServicewebsite,bywhatyousaidininterviewaboutyourdisapprovalof2friendswhohad
hadabortionsandbytheantiabortionstatementyouputonthehomepageofthewebsite.Justas
manypeopledisagreewiththeviewyouheld,manydoagree.However,thosewhofindabortion
repugnantdonotusethisasanexcusetojustifydeliberatelycommittingcriminaloffences.Thatis
exactlywhatyouhavedone.

IamsatisfiedthatyoutargetedtheBritishPregnancyAdvisoryService.Idonotacceptyour
explanationthattheLeaningPenetrationSoftwareyouusedthrewupthenamesimplyasaweb
sitethatwassusceptibleorvulnerabletohacking.BPASisanonprofitmakingcharityandisthe
largestabortionproviderinthecountry.Over60,000womenseekitshelpeveryyearandofthose
about53,000womenhaveabortions.Italsoprovidescounsellingandadviceincasesofunplanned
pregnancies,oncontraceptionandsterilisation.MrWallacedescribesyouasacomputergeniusor
whizzkid.Certainly,youhavecompleted2yearsofasoftwareuniversitycourse.Yourskillsareso
goodthatyoudecidedtohackintotheirwebsiteandyousucceeded.Youstoletherecordsof
approximately10,000women.Manyofthemwerevulnerablewomen,vulnerable,simplybecause
theyhadhadatermination,forexample,orbecauseoftheiryouthorbecausetheirfamilydidnot
knowoftheirsituation.YouwereproudofwhatyouhaddoneyouboastedaboutitonTwitter.
Yousaidthatyouintendedtopublishthepersonaldetailsofthesewomentheirnames,addresses,

telephonenumbersandemailaddresses.YouputthestolendatainwhatisknownasPastebinso
thatanyonecouldaccessit.Youwereabletoprovethatyoucouldreleasethishighlysensitivedata,
andwoulddoit,bytweetingthenameandlogondetailsofoneoftheBPASadministrators.Thatact
initselfgaveanyoneaccesstotheBPASdatabase.Inmyview,itissignificantthattheonlinename
youusedonTwitterwasthatofthenotoriousColumbiancriminalPabloEscobar.

YouarealinkedtoahackinggroupcalledAnonymous.Yousayinmitigation,thatalthoughyouknew
whatthisgroupwasallaboutyouwerenotamember,thoughyouhadbeenincommunicationwith
amembersincethepreviousFebruary.Yousaythatyourcommunicationwiththatpersonwasnot
abouthackingbutwasprincipallyaboutyourmutualinterestinmusic.Idonotacceptthis
explanation.Youaredistancingyourselffromthegroup.Inadditiontostealingthedetailsofthe
Servicesclients,youdeliberatelydefaceditswebsitewithAnonymousslogoandastatementthat
madeabundantlyclearyourantiabortionviews.ThatstatementhasbeenseenbytheBPASbefore
andthereforeIcanacceptthatyoudidcutandpasteitfromasearchengine.Butitreflectedyour
viewsatthetime.Whyelsewouldyoupostitonthehomepageofthewebsitesothatitwouldbe
seenbyanyoneloggingon.Itbeginsbystatingthatanunbornchilddoesnothaveanopinion,a
choiceoranyrights,andaskswhyanyoneelseshouldhavetherighttomurderanunbornchildand
profitfromthatmurder.

TheBPASwereawareonthedayyoucommittedtheoffencesthattheirsecurityhadbeenbreached
andthereforeinformedthepolice.Thepoliceactedwithcommendablespeedandtheywereable
withinhourstotracethebreachtoyouraddress.Whentheyarrivedatyourhomeintheearlyhours
of9March2012theyfoundthatyourowncomputerwasintheprocessofbeingwipedclean.I
acceptthatbythetimethepolicearrivedyouhadchangedyourmindaboutreleasingthestolen
data.ButasMrWallacesays,bythenitwastoolate.Itwasinthepublicdomain.Howeveritdoes
notappeartohavebeenaccessed.

IntermsofculpabilityyouoffendingisveryseriousforthereasonsIhavealreadysetout:
Theunlawfuluseofyourundoubtedcomputerskills,
TheaccessingofthesoftwarethatallowedyoutohackintotheBPASwebsite,
YourmovingofthestolendataintoPastebin,
Yourintentiontoreleasethehighlysensitivepersonaldatawithoutanyregardtothe
consequencestotheindividualwomenorthecharity,
Yourdefacingofthehomepageofthewebsite,whichwouldbeseenbyanyoneloggingon
YourboastingonTwitterofwhatyouhaddone,
YourpublishingthedetailsoftheBPASadministratorsdetailstoprovewhatyouhaddone,
Thatthosedetailsallowedanyonetoaccessconfidentialinformation.

Iaskwhatharmyouroffendinghasdone.Tothecharityitself,thefearisthatgreatharmmayhave
beendoneonlytimewilltellwhethertheconsequencesofyouractionsareasgraveasisfeared.
Thefearisthatwomenwillhavenoconfidencethattheirpersonaldetailsandrecordsaresecure
andwillstopusingtheservice.Tothewomenthemselves,greatanxietywillalreadyhavebeen
causedtothosewhohavelearnedaboutthiscase,andnodoubtfurtherdistresswillbecaused
whenothershearofyourwrongdoing.

Inthesecircumstances,Iamsatisfiedthatthecustodythresholdhasbeenpassedandthatthiscase
canonlybedealtwithbywayofanimmediatecustodialsentence.

Itakeintoaccountthemitigationthatisavailabletoyou.
Thatyoupleadedguiltyattheearliestopportunity,
Thatyouimmediatelyadmittedtheoffencesininterviewfollowingarrest,

Thatyourintentiontoreleasethedatawasrelativelyshortlived,
Thatnooneseemstohaveaccessedthedata,
IacceptthatyouregretwhatyouhavedoneandnowrealisethepotentialconsequencesI
takeintoaccountthecontentsoftheletterIhaveaddressedfromyoutotheBPAS.

Asfarasyourpersonalmitigationisconcerned,thedevastatingconsequencestoyoureducationand
apromisingcareerincomputerscancountaslittleinthecircumstances.Iappreciatetheeffectofa
prisonsentenceonyourpartnerandyourstepchild,butyoubeartheresponsibilityforthat.Iaccept
thatyouweresufferingfromdepressionatthetimeoftheoffences,orwereatleastatalowebb.
Butthiscannotmitigatewhatyouhavedone.

ThesentencethatIimposearebothtopunishyouforwhatyouhavedoneandtosendoutaclear
messageofdeterrencetoanyonetemptedtocommitsimilarhackingoffences.

Sentence

Charge116monthsimprisonment

Charge232monthsimprisonmentconcurrent

TotalSentence2years8monthsimprisonment

34daysonremandtocounttowardsthesentence