Steffan Needham [2019] EWCA Crim 1541

The appellant was convicted of unauthorised access to computer material and unauthorised modification of computer material. He was sentenced to a total of 2 years’ imprisonment.

After his termination from the employment of a company, he accessed their system. On that occasion, he checked the policies in place for himself and another. He logged on for a second time and changed the password of a user who was building a new server configuration at the firm. He went on to terminate 23 of the firm’s servers.

The termination of the servers caused significant damage to the business and customers. One customer estimated losses of £500,000 with 9 people being made redundant.

The appeal was dismissed.