14 DAY TRIAL // Ian Sullivan, 51, an unemployed British man living with his parents in Bootle, Liverpool, was sentenced to 34 weeks in jail after admitting to 21 offenses under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
Mr. Sullivan was arrested last year by UK police after he carried out DDoS attacks on over 300 websites. Police linked his activities to his personal Twitter account, where he was flaunting his Anonymous associations, promoted the group's activities, and was proudly featuring known Anonymous symbols such as the Guy Fawkes mask.
Some of the websites Mr. Sullivan attacked included the ones belonging to local town councils, police forces, political parties, airlines, child care organizations, child adoption NGOs, pornographic portals, and the homepages of the government sites of Bulgaria and Gabon.
The DDoS attacks took place between June and July 2013, and were all carried out from Mr. Sullivan's bedroom with the aid of the RageBooter network stressing tool.
DDoS attacks as revenge after his children were taken away from him
The suspect motivated his actions as an uncontrolled rage due to local authorities taking his children into care after his wife divorced him.
The 34-week sentence he got was not the maximum, but it was harsh nevertheless. The judge explained his decision by referencing the fact that Mr. Sullivan did not acquire the skills to carry out the attacks through his education or at his job, but he was self-taught, with the sole purpose of carrying out revenge against the government agencies that took his kids away.
Before his sentencing, both his parents, who were in their eighties, pleaded with the judge for forgiveness so that their son would not have to go to jail. Both told the judge they would enter an asylum so their son would learn to be more responsible.
Sullivan was diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses, and before his recent sentencing, he had already amassed 11 previous convictions.