Armed forces net hacker guilty

A man has admitted sabotaging a website for reuniting members of the armed forces last year.

John Thornley, 31, of Chorley, Lancashire, pleaded guilty at Chippenham magistrates to four offences regarding the Forces Reunited website.

Logging on to the Swindon-based site under the user name Harry Potter, Thornley caused files with members' information to be deleted.

Sentencing was adjourned until 22 June pending a pre-trial report.

Thornley served in the RAF for nine years and set up his own website as a hobby when he left.

'Regrets incident'

Prosecutor Nicola Wootton said that the webmaster of Forces Reunited found that a member using the name Harry Potter had uploaded files into the picture area of the site last November.

As a result of these files being uploaded, database tables containing member information were deleted, she said.

Thornley pleaded guilty to four charges under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 dating from November and December 2003.

Defending him, Richard Williams, told the court that his client had entered prompt guilty pleas and co-operated with the police investigations, conducted by Wiltshire Constabulary Hi-Tech Crime Unit.

He added that Thornley did not intend to cause permanent damage and very much regrets the incident.

Thornley was granted unconditional bail.