14 DAY TRIAL // I just can't believe it! More and more old people are resorting to cyber-crime! I don't get it - aren't they fearing that jail at their age might just kill them? I don't know what they're thinking! Furthermore, this is the case of a 60-year-old policeman that committed computer-crime and now got a sentence of more than a year in jail! Good policemen turning to crime isn't a case that hasn't been seen before, but his age and the nature of the crime just don't match.
As The Register informs, John Matthews, 60, of Stafford was a serving officer when he illegally accessed the Police National Computer to offer information to others. As you might have imagined, there was a lot of money involved in this. He didn't do anything by himself, but was an accomplice to a couple of criminals.
Two former police officers started their own detective agency - nothing bad about that. The nasty part was that these guys were making millions out of spying on people, using illegal means, as the same source informs. The 60-year-old man's role in all this was to provide them with information on their targets.
So, he got 14 months for his deeds - but wait! He wasn't the oldest man involved in this scheme. A 65-year old man also got ten months! To me, this is outrageous - at this age people usually retire, go home and raise their nephews, but they thought it would be more interesting (?!) to commit computer-crime!
Also, besides getting data illegitimately, wiretapping, installing bugs, the guys in the detective agency also resorted to the services of a hacker. The expert was from the United States and even used a Trojan. This case is quite inextricable - but bottom line is that two ex-cops founded a detective agency and with help from hackers and Police connections managed to make a lot of money.