Telford Black Dragon hacker guilty

A computer hacker who called himself the Black Dragon, Cyber Commander and Secret Squirrel from his Telford home has admitted his part in a £3m online plot.

Matthew Beddoes was part of a multi-national conspiracy targeting the United Nations, European governments and big banks.

Beddoes, 32, of Jubilee Avenue, Donnington, helped provide access to sensitive and confidential data.

He pleaded guilty to more than a dozen charges when he appeared at Kingston-Upon-Thames Crown Court.The principle target had been carbon credit certificates said to be worth around £3.2m, held in the United Nation's central registry in Bonn.

An attempt had been made to obtain thousands of the certificates and officers discovered that £80,000 was secured from Spain and paid into Hong Kong bank accounts. Beddoes faced 35 charges under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and Proceeds of Crime Act. He admitted 13 offences, including five allegations of conspiring to do unauthorised acts with intent to impair computer programmes.

He appeared in the dock with two men from Leicestershire following an investigation by officers from the Serious & Organised Crime Agency. He also pleaded guilty to four allegations of unauthorised access to business computers and one charge of acquiring criminal property, namely money.

Beddoes also admitted three charges of possessing electronic files containing credit card and identity information.

He pleaded not guilty to 22 similar charges which were ordered to lie on file.

He was remanded in custody yesterday to await sentence and faces at least six months behind bars.