Jake Burchall is the last of the four PayPal hackers to be sentenced.
Jake Burchall, who was under-age at the time of the offense, has been given an 18 month youth rehabilitation order (YRO) for his part in the PayPal hack that cost the company £3.5 million ($5.5 million). Burchall is the last of the four Anonymous PayPal hackers to be sentenced; the others all received jail terms, though in the case of Peter Gibson – whose role was relatively minor compared to the others – one sentence was suspended.
Christopher Weatherhead, the only one of the four to contest the charges, has been given an 18 month prison sentence, more than double the time that any of his co-defendants will serve. The judge made it clear, in his closing remarks, that he would have preferred to give Burchall a custodial sentence as well, but his age meant that prison was off the table.
“I have to sentence you as a young person,” said Judge Testar. “I think you should do some unpaid work,” he added, “particularly as a recognition of the fact you have committed offences which have caused damaged and you must pay some of the damage back.” Burchall was ordered to carry out a 60-hour unpaid work requirement, in addition to the order.
A YRO is essentially community punishment, often carrying with it various requirements or conditions; in Testar’s view, one of the conditions of this YRO had to be that Burchall – who played a prominent role in the PayPal hack – must learn “to get out of bed in a morning and do unpaid work.”
Source: Guardian
Published: Feb 1, 2013 02:00 pm