Years in jail for Cambridgeshire computer hacker who blackmailed victims

A computer hacker from Linton in Cambridgeshire has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison after a number of blackmail and computer offences. 

Police described 20-year-old Alexander Marsh as 'manipulative' after he was caught harvesting personal information, including intimate images from people in Suffolk.

Marsh first came to the attention of police after a young woman reported someone had accessed her snapchat account, changed the password and emailed her demanding money. Another social media account of hers had also been hacked. 

More victims were later identified, with them reporting that intimate photos and videos were stolen in attempts to blackmail them. 

Messages were also sent from their account to friends and contacts which contained a link that would direct people back to fake log-in page to steal passwords and usernames. 

In February last year Marsh was arrested at his student residence in Staffordshire.

He was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for seven years, and was sentenced for 13 counts of hacking, two counts of unauthorised access to an account with intent to commit further offences, eight counts of blackmail and three counts of voyeurism. He denied a further 10 counts.