Man sentenced for cyber offences against City bank, including hacking cameras on colleagues’ devices

An Essex man has been sentenced for four Computer Misuse Act offences and one offence of fraud by false representation, following an investigation by the City of London Police’s Cyber Crime Unit.

Ashley Crispin, 23, of Wickford Place, Basildon, Essex, was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, at Inner London Crown Court on Friday 30 October 2020. He had previously pleaded guilty to all offences at an earlier court appearance on Thursday 20 August 2020.

Passing down the sentence, which also included a three month tagged curfew, costs of £800 and the forfeiture of all digital devices, His Honour Judge JN Donne RD QC told Crispin, “to say you have behaved utterly stupidly is almost a grotesque understatement.”

Crispin was employed as an IT Service Desk Analyst at a bank based in the City. After three and a half years in his role, he handed in his resignation and during his notice period, committed a number of Computer Misuse Act offences against the company. This included remotely accessing a number of devices and impairing their operation, changing passwords, and hacking cameras on devices to take images of employees while they worked. His final act was to access the system and delete records of his actions, in an attempt to destroy incriminating evidence.

While under police investigation for these serious offences, Crispin applied for another role as a support analyst at an investment management company. He lied in his application and denied being investigated by police, therefore committing an act of fraud by false representation.

Detective Sergeant Michael O’Sullivan, from the City of London Police, said:

“Crispin was an arrogant individual capable of carrying out sophisticated cyber crimes, which may not have benefitted him financially, but were done with the knowledge they would be disruptive and intrusive to his employers and colleagues. He abused the trust placed in him and consequently may never be able to work in this sector again.

“Following a report to Action Fraud which was disseminated to our Cyber Crime Unit, we were able to arrest Crispin and quickly identify indisputable evidence on his devices, proving his criminality.”

The City of London Police’s Cyber Crime Unit has  a team of dedicated officers who provide a range of free services to businesses and individuals to ensure everyone, whether using a personal or work device, can stay safe online. Following the national lockdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the team produced a series of informative and explanatory videos for anyone with online security concerns. For more information, please visit: https://cybergriffin.police.uk/