News / Jake Davis must make plea in January
SHETLAND teenager Jake Davis accused of hacking into websites has been told to appear in court on 27 January next year to make a plea.
On Tuesday Southwark Crown Court in London heard the case against the 18 year old along with that of a 19 year old from Essex, Ryan Cleary, who also stands accused of internet crimes.
Mr Davis was arrested by police at his address in Hoofields, Lerwick, last month and flown down to London to spend five days in the cells before being bailed to his mother Jenny’s home in Spalding, Lincolnshire.
Mrs Davis, a care worker, had been living until recently in Mid Yell with her two sons, where Jake was taught at home and is understood to have spent most of his time on the computer, on which he displayed exceptional skills.
Police identified him as ‘hacktivist’ Topiary, who acted as a spokesman for the widespread hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec.
He faces five charges, including conspiring to carry out a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack on the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), in which their website would have been flooded with traffic to make it crash.
Tuesday’s hearing was a short affair at which neither of the accused were present. It is understood to be the first time the two cases have been grouped together.
Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said both men must appear in court on 27 January to make a plea.
Davis is under bail conditions that do not allow him access to the internet through a computer or a mobile phone, even through another person.
Cleary, who is from Wickford, in Essex, was arrested on 20 June and has been charged with creating a network of computers to crash websites, called a ‘botnet’. He too has been bailed to his mother’s address and told not to access the internet.
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