Posted by Virus Bulletin on Sep 29, 2006
Weaselboy conviction upheld.
The man who is the UK's biggest - and possibly nastiest - spammer has failed in his appeal to overturn two of his convictions.
Back in November 2005 a court found the 24-year-old 'weaselboy' (real name Peter Francis-Macrae) guilty of a catalogue of offences, including fraudulent trading, concealing criminal property, threatening to destroy or damage property, making threats to kill, and blackmail. He was sentenced to a total of six years for the combination of offences (see VB, December 2005, p.S1).
In February 2006, Francis-Macrae was also found guilty of threatening to kill the police officers investigating his case - his threats included planting a car bomb at the local police force's headquarters - and in June, 12 months were added to his prison sentence and he was made the subject of one of the UK's infamous anti-social behaviour orders (ASBO), which stipulated that he must refrain from contacting police or trading standards officers for two years after his release.
In his recent appeal, Francis-Macrae argued that two of his convictions - involving concealing criminal property and fraud - were unsafe. However, the appeal court judges dismissed his arguments and upheld the convictions.
Posted on 29 September 2006 by Virus Bulletin