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Plymouth teenager convicted of cyber attacks on major websites and police (7 July 2016)

Date: 07/07/2016
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, Plymouth teenager convicted of cyber attacks on major websites and police

A 16-year-old teenager from Plymouth has been convicted of cyber attacks on a number of websites – as well as tweeting bomb hoaxes to two major US airlines.

The teenager – who cannot be named for legal reasons – appeared at Plymouth Youth Court on Wednesday (06/07/16) for a second hearing.

The court heard that one of the hoax threats to the Twitter account of American Airlines read: “One of those lovely boeing [sic] airplanes has a nice tick tick tick in it, hurry gentlemen, the clock's ticking...”

The court heard that the teenager also carried out a series of online attacks –
known as Distributed Denial of Service – in which a large amount of data is sent to a website over a short period of time, causing the site to become overwhelmed and, in some cases, to temporarily crash.

The sites targeted included those of Devon and Cornwall Police and SeaWorld in Florida.

He was convicted on five counts, three at the hearing on 28 June, involving three counts under Section 3 Computer Misuse Act 1990 (Unauthorised acts with intent to impair operation of or prevent/hinder access to a computer).

The offences took place between October 2014 and February 2015 – the offender was arrested by Devon and Cornwall Police on 25 February 2015.

The two hoax bomb threats were both made on 13th February 2015 – they were made to American Airlines and Delta Airlines.

On Monday 26th January 2015 between 21.21hrs and 22.04hrs, a Distributed Denial of Service attack successfully targeted the Devon and Cornwall Police public website, making it unavailable for 43 minutes.

At Plymouth Youth Court on Tuesday 28th June 2016 before District Judge Baker, the teenager pleaded guilty to three counts under the Computer Misuse Act.

On Wednesday, 6th July the teenager was convicted on the remaining two counts of communicating a bomb hoax involving Section 51 of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

Sentencing was adjourned to a later date, pending the judge's request for reports on the offender.

Senior crown prosecutor for the southwest, Ben Samples, said:

“The defendant knew what he was doing was wrong and deliberately targeted a number of websites causing them to crash temporarily.

“One of those websites was that of Devon and Cornwall Police, making it much harder for the public to access the help and support they needed.

“I hope this will send a message to anyone who thinks they can hide online or use social media to create a climate of fear that they will have to face the consequences of their actions.”

Duncan Lewis Cyber Crime Solicitors

Duncan Lewis cyber crime solicitors can advise at any stage of a charge involving cyber attacks, hacking, IT crime, online fraud or online terrorism offences.

There are Duncan Lewis offices nationwide and in most major cities – and a Duncan Lewis criminal defence solicitor can usually reach a police station for interview under caution within an hour.

Duncan Lewis can also advise on extradition proceedings and has extensive experience in cross-border cases.

For expert legal advice on cyber crime charges, call Duncan Lewis cyber crime solicitors on 0333 772 0409.

For 24/7 help at a police station, call the Duncan Lewis Solicitors 24-Hour Emergency Helpline on 0333 772 0607.

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