Shetland Islander accused of being part of LulzSec has been released on bail. The suspected teen hacker, 18 year old Jake Davis, stands accused of offenses including assisting and conspiring to carry out attacks on UK police serious organised crime agency, Soca.
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Pictured: Jake Davis outside the London courts, yesterday. |
Davis was arrested on Wednesday in Lerwick, the capital of the Shetlands Islands located off the north coast of Scotland, although hails from Yell, another island where he has lived for much of his life.
In an interesting twist, it has also emerged his younger sibling, Josh, aged 17 was also arrested alongside his brother last week, although released without charge.
Believed to be LulzSec identity, known as ‘Topiary’, the youth is suspected to be part of the international rebel hacking group, LulzSec, a spin off from Anonymous, who engaged in high profile cyber attacks on Sony PlayStation network, Nintendo as well as the NHS.
Charges against him include unauthorised access to a computer system, contrary to Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990; conspiracy to carry out a Distributed Denial of Service Attack on the Soca site; encouraging / assisting offences, contrary to S46 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.
The rebellious teen was seen holding the book ‘Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science’ by Michael Brooks, outside the London court and was said to show little emotion showed as the charges against him were read out at the hearing at City of Westminster magistrates’ court.
However, pictures of the teenager also brings home the fact that Davis is just a kid, despite being accused of sophisticated attacks on corporate giants like Sony, Nintendo, News International as well as government bodies like Soca and NHS.
Bail conditions include a ban on the use of the Net, a 7am – 10pm curfew and he must also wear an electronic security tag, reports Guardian.
He will reside with his mother in Lincolnshire during the bail period. Topiary’s next court hearing will take place on August 30.
However, his grandad Sam Davis, 76, thinks police have the wrong man, saying the police raid was “dramatic and ridiculous” and said his grandson “did not know what he was doing.”
“I just don’t see him getting involved in anything criminal, he is not politically minded and I do not know why he would want to be a computer hacker. I am certain that if he was involved in something, which I don’t think he was, then he did not know what he was doing.”
The 18 year old is said to be autistic and home tutored, spending hours locked away in his bedroom talking to online friends, according to reports.
Davis is the third Briton to be arrested as part of the police investigation into LulzSec hacking ring.