A FORMER fast-food worker who hacked into the Facebook page of teen star Selena Gomez and threatened to leak emails between her and boyfriend Justin Bieber has had his jail sentence cut on appeal.
Gareth Crosskey, from Avon Close, Sompting, sparked a £50,000 FBI and Met Police investigation after posing as the American actresses’s step-father to convince staff at the social networking site to change the password on her account.
A post saying “Justin Bieber sucks” then appeared on her profile, provoking a furious reaction from “Beliebers” – fans of the teenage singing hearthrob – towards Miss Gomez, although Crosskey denied writing this.
The 21-year-old admitted two offences under the Computer Misuse Act and was jailed for 12 months at Southwark Crown Court in May.
But yesterday (Wednesday, July 4) he was back in the dock at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, where his lawyers urged top judges to release him – arguing his sentence should have been suspended.
Mr Justice Owen said the offences were so serious that he deserved to be behind bars, but cut his term by one third, to eight months, saying the original term was “excessive”.
For the full story, see next week’s Lancing Herald.
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