Computer crime comes in all shapes and sizes, whether its financial crime perpetrated over the internet or is in the guise of illegal downloads, to unauthorised access to data on a personal computer or tapping into a network via a WiFi hotspot. One can see why using a computer to perpetrate a crime is very attractive because it takes the personality out of the act and therefore preserves the anonymity of the perpetrator. For this reason, computer crime opens its door’s to virtually anyone who has access to a computer. This is perfectly illustrated by the number of people that are arrested for downloading inappropriate images from the internet who would not normally be regarded as having a criminal profile.

Computer forensic evidence in computer crime cases is crucial and is regarded as being of a very high integrity because of its very nature.  It is used as a starting point to identify the individual who inputs the instructions to the machine which then carries out the intended order whether that is a fraudulent transaction or the simple deletion of files. This may seem to be incontrovertible in evidential terms, however if careful and methodical analysis is undertaken the results can be revealing.

We were involved in a case where a computer consultant instructed us to defend him in a case where he had been wrongly accused of accessing sensitive financial and personal information that belonged to Iceland Plc.  He along with his contract manager had been charged under s.1 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990. 

It was the prosecutions belief that they had a watertight case and they had relied and produced the appropriate forensic computer evidence.  A lot of time and effort went into the preparation of our client’s defence and by the time the case started there clearly was a high degree of doubt as to whether the prosecution had made out a case.  During the prosecution evidence and following a submission by the us, the defence, the Judge hearing the case decided that there was no case to answer and dismissed the case against both our client and the co-defendant (on the strength of our submission) . 

This is of course a very technical area of the law which requires a detailed understanding of the processes within a computer system.  We have access to highly specialised individuals who are able to break this down into very simple terms and present this evidence in a way that is going to be understandable by the court.

It is clear that had Iceland Plc enforced its computer use policies or had re-drafted them, then they would not be in this situation. We do have the expertise of advising organisations of all shapes and sizes on their computer use or misuse policy which will not only add clarity to the position they and their employees are in, but would also give them the option of taking this matter further if they wished to do so.

For further information on all Business Crime and Regulation services please contact our Isaac Mirza or Peter Grogan on 0845 2419107 or via our online enquiry form below.