A 21 year old man from England was sentenced to 12 months in prison under the UK’s Computer Misuse Act 1990 for hacking into an American’s Facebook account on January 12, 2011. There doesn’t seem to be a relationship between the 2 individuals and the crime is just random.

The FBI began looking into the case last year when they were contacted by the American victim. The investigation quickly led them to the United Kingdom, so they contacted Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) tracked down the suspect. The Police Central e-Crime Unit is a national unit created to respond to the most serious incidents of cyber crime in the UK and forms part of the government’s response to cyber threats, under the National Cyber Security Program.

“The PCeU are working to detect and bring before the courts those responsible for this type of offense. Today’s result should act as a deterrent to any individuals thinking of participating in this type of criminal activity,” a PCeU spokesperson said in a statement. “By taking swift action, PCeU officers were able to quickly detain Crosskey thereby preventing further disruption to the victim.”

The Defendant, Gareth Crosskey, was arrested in his home in July 2011 and authorities seized his computer and a few other things. He was charged with and pled guilty to two charges: using a computer to gain unauthorized access to a program/data as well as performing unauthorized acts with intent to impair operation of, or prevent/hinder access to, a computer.