Cyber criminal orchestrated £2m crypto theft bid from jail cell

A "sophisticated cybercriminal" who orchestrated an attempted £2m cryptocurrency theft from his prison cell has been jailed for eight years.

Robert Barr, 29, ordered Sean Favier, 26, and Iain Doyle, 37, to steal digital assets from two homes in Midlothian while he was a prisoner at HMP Edinburgh.

But the plan was foiled during the second theft, when Favier and Doyle realised they had been caught on a doorbell camera.

All three had earlier pled guilty to a charge of being involved in serious organised crime at a hearing in Edinburgh.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Cubie sentenced Favier to four years and Doyle to five years.

The judge said the crime "married computer sophistication with old fashioned housebreaking".

Prosecutors described Barr as having the "ability to orchestrate a level of criminality rarely seen within mainstream investigations".

The first raid took place in January 2024 and targeted a man who was a co-founder of a cryptocurrency start-up.

Barr was serving a 21-month sentence at the time for fraud and having illicit mobile phones in prison.

The man did not advertise that he had cryptocurrency but had a social media account and most of what he followed was linked to it.

One of the items stolen after the initial theft was a cryptocurrency wallet, but the raiders did not have the PIN to access the funds.

The court heard how Barr sent a message to an associate linking him to what happened and stated: "I had his house robbed a few months ago by boys in here."

David Dickson KC said Barr indicated to another person that the cryptocurrency owned by the man may be worth upwards of £2m.

The prosecutor added: "He displayed knowledge that he knew the man had been involved with cryptocurrency since it first emerged and that the [man's] 'own coin' was worth £1m."

Before the second robbery attempt, Barr was in touch with an associate.

He texted: "I'm going to send u a website for the boys to make him go on.

"If they need phone me on Telegram. I can speak to them in house keep them right. When they're in his house gonna need get him on his PC fast."

Barr also stated a programme to access the computer remotely would need to be downloaded "rapid" to help get the crypto.

The court heard that the man and his wife were at home on 17 April 2024 when she became aware of the front door being knocked.

The man looked out and saw two figures wearing dark clothing with hoods pulled up.

He told his wife not to open the door as did not recognise the pair nor was he expecting anyone.

The court heard one of the men looked into the lens and said: "Is that a camera right in front of me?"

The pair then walked off as they tried to hide their faces.

The court was told that Barr's phone was seized on 25 June 2024.

Dickson said: "Examination found it to contain details of Barr's involvement in the organisation and provision of specialist support to criminal associates to conduct crypto-theft."

Barr's lawyer Michael Anderson KC said: "It might be a source of frustration to a number of people that someone who has skills that are pretty unusual could not put them to better use and legally."

The court heard Favier did not know his accomplice Doyle before that night.

Doyle was said to have got involved not fully knowing what he was to be part of.

Lord Cubie told the gang: "This was an attempted crime that married 21st Century computer sophistication with old fashioned housebreaking in an audacious attempt to steal cryptocurrency of up to £2m.

"It was apparently devised and directed from a prison cell, only frustrated when the victims had sense not to open the front door at 11:30pm to unknown men dressed in dark clothing with their faces obscured."