Cyber gang led by former rave promoter dubbed the "Acid House King" are facing years behind bars for plundering £1.25m

By

Lizzie Parry

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Mastermind: Former rave promoter dubbed the Acid House King, Tony Colston-Hayter, is facing years behind bars after stealing £1.25million from Barclays bank in a cyber heist

He made his name as the 22-year-old rave promoter dubbed the Acid House King and stood accused of luring the country’s youth to an ‘evil night of ecstasy’.

Now 48, the former rave promoter Tony Colston-Hayter is facing years behind bars for stealing £1.25million.

Heading up a cyber gang Colston-Hayter was the mastermind behind a hacking attack targeting a branch of Barclays and draining high-value accounts of money.

Today branded the Mr Big of cyber crime, the 48-year-old who organised some of Britains’s most infamous all-night raves where drugs were peddled to children as young as 12, is facing a lengthy jail term for his hi-tech crime.

He led a team of criminals who used a keyboard video mouse (KVM) to hijack the bank’s systems.

They also stole 24,000 credit cards from American Express and Coutts customers before enjoying lavish spending sprees in Selfridges and Harrods – splashing out £35,000 on Rolex watches.

Colston-Hayter – who famously handcuffed himself to Jonathan Ross after his ‘Sunrise’ parties were banned by the then Home Secretary Douglas Hurd – is thought to have targeted a number of celebrities including comedian Stephen Merchant.

The TV writer’s emails were among an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ of documents and equipment for fraud on ‘massive scale,’ unearthed at Colston-Hayter’s flat in Marylebone, central London.

But he insists he did not hack into the Extras star’s online accounts with the intention of stealing.

Colston-Hayter, together with Lanre Mullins-Abudu, stole £1.25m from a Barclays branch in Swiss Cottage last April 5.

They used the KVM device – which costs as little as £10 and is popular with suspicious partners hoping to catch their cheating spouses – to take control of multiple computer systems and transmit information remotely.

Six high-value accounts were emptied, with the University of Portsmouth and the London Metropolitan University listed among victims, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Acid House King: At the age of 22, Colston-Hayter helped relocate acid house music from underground clubs to massive open-air raves

Barclays has since recovered £543,000, leaving £708,000 outstanding.

Mullins-Abudu

was also involved in a similar attempt to crack systems at a branch of

Santander in Surrey Quays, southwest London.

But the cyber heist, last September 12, was foiled by police before any funds could be withdrawn.

Stephen Hannah, 51, was a ‘senior figure’ in the credit card scam.

He and Mullins-Abudu, 25, denied the charges against them but were found guilty today following a four-week trial.

A third man, Lewis Murphy, 39, pleaded guilty to possessing stolen Rolex watches during the trial.

He was caught red handed with two expensive timepieces.

More than 400,000 pieces of Royal Mail with customers’ personal details were compromised in the conspiracy.

A

‘sophisticated’ network of telephone exchanges was also employed to

trick victims, based in central and west London, into revealing their

personal information.

Found guilty: Lewis Murphy (left) admitted possession of criminal property. Darius Boldor (right) pleaded guilty to using stolen credit cards to buy Rolex watches at Selfridges and stealing credit balances from Barclays

Prosecutor Simon Farrell QC told the

jury: ‘In September 2013, when police found an Aladdin’s Cave of full of

banking documents, credit cards and electronic equipment for the use in

fraud on a massive scale.’

Colston-Hayter

– a successful professional gambler who astounded teachers by passing a

special O-level in fruit machine technology aged just 16 – pleaded

guilty ahead of the trial.

He once raked in £23,000-a-day before he was banned from every casino in Britain.

Michael Harper pleaded guilty to using stolen credit cards to buy Rolex watches at Selfridges

Colston-Haytor,

who gave his address as Ilminster, Somerset, admitted conspiracy to

steal credit card balances from Barclays, conspiring to commit fraud

using credit cards, conspiracy to steal and two counts of possession of

articles for use in fraud.

He

denied interfering with the emails of Stephen Merchant with the

intention to commit fraud or theft, which was left on the court file.

Mullins-Abudu,

of Putney, southwest London; denied two counts of conspiracy to steal;

conspiracy to commit fraud; concealing criminal property and possession

of articles for use in fraud.

Hannah, of Marylebone, northwest London, denied conspiracy to commit fraud.

Murphy, of Chelsea, southwest London, admitted possession of criminal property.

He denied a further charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, which will not be proceeded with.

They will all be sentenced on April 23, together with Darius Boldor, 34, and Michael Harper, 26.

Both

pleaded guilty to using stolen credit cards to buy Rolex watches at

Selfridges and Boldor also admitted stealing credit balances from

Barclays.

Segun Ogunfidodo,

26, and Leroy Odunusi, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit fraud

using credit cards and will be sentenced on the same day.

Akash

Vaghela, 27, of Hounslow, west London denied conspiracy to steal from

Santander and was cleared half way through the trial on Judge Juliet May

QC’s direction.

Confession: Segun Ogunfidodo (left) and Leroy Odunusi (right) pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit fraud using credit cards and will be sentenced on April 23 with the rest of the gang

Southwark Crown Court heard that Colston-Hayter led a gang who stole £1.25million from a bank branch in Swiss Cottage in North London by taking control of its computer system. They will be sentenced next month

Barclays

employee Duane Jean-Jacques, 25, of South Hampstead, northwest London,

denied conspiracy to steal and concealing criminal property and was

found not guilty of both charges by the jury.

DCI

Jason Tunn, of the MPS Cyber Crime Unit, said: ‘Today’s convictions are

the culmination of a prolonged and highly complex investigation by

Metropolitan Police Service detectives into an organised crime group

that sought to target London’s banks and credit card companies in order

to steal millions of pounds.

‘The

police investigation has been successful thanks to the fantastic

support provided to us by industry partners and today’s convictions are

testament to what can be achieved through joint working.

‘The

sheer volume and size of the investigation undertaken has been

staggering and the MPS detectives and industry partners, including

Barclays and Santander, should rightly be praised for their immense

efforts in solving this case.

‘The

Metropolitan Police Service is investing significantly in tackling a

wide range of cyber crime and fraud offences affecting the capital’s

businesses and residents.

‘The MPS is committed to stripping criminals of their assets so that crime does not pay.’

Tony Colston-Hayter, pictured left in his 20s, around the time he was dubbed the Acid House King, is believed to have targeted comedy writer and actor Stephen Merchant

ACPO National Cyber Crime Lead, Deputy Chief Constable Peter Goodman, said: ‘This result demonstrates the determination of the police, not just in London but across the country, to pursue criminals who engage in serious and organised cyber crime.

‘We know that criminals are continually looking to exploit new innovation to commit these offences against our financial institutions, businesses, public sector organisations and even individual members of the public, but we are also keeping pace with advances in technology-enabled crime.

‘As the ACPO National Lead officer for tackling cyber crime in England and Wales I am personally overseeing the rapid development of the capability of policing to respond effectively to this evolving crime trend.’

Alex Grant, Managing Director, Fraud Prevention, Barclays said: ‘We are grateful to the Metropolitan Police for their support in bringing this matter to court and achieving a successful outcome.

‘Barclays has no higher priority than the protection and security of our customers against the actions of would-be fraudsters.

‘We identified the security breach and acted swiftly to recover funds on the same day, thereby ensuring no customers suffered financial loss as a result of this action.’

ACID HOUSE MUSIC: THE BIGGEST YOUTH REVOLUTION FOR A GENERATION

A raver holds up a banner at Trip nightclub in London, one of the first acid house clubs in the UK when it opened in June 1988

Acid house is a child of the 1980s, a music genre that sparked the rave scene which embraced the growing popularity of ecstasy and sparked the biggest youth revolution since the 1960s.

Its defining ‘squelching’ bass – produced using the Roland TB-303 electronic synthesizer-sequencer – was first heard in clubs in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

The first tracks were produced by the group Phuture, founded by Nathan Jones aka DJ Pierre, Earl ‘Spanky’ Smith Jr, and Herbert ‘Herb J’ Jackson.

Their 12-minute song Acid Tracks was recorded and played by DJ Ron Hardy at the Music Box. he once played it four times over the course of his set. 

There are conflicting accounts of how the genre became to be known Acid house.

One version ties the movement to a song Acid Tracks by Phuture, and played before its commercial release by DJ Ron Hardy at a nightclub where psychedelic drugs were reportedly used.

Revellers dubbed the track Ron Hardy’s Acid Track, and the song was released with the title Acid Trax on Larry Sherman’s label Trax Records in 1987.

Other accounts claim the reference to ‘acid’ may be in reference to psychedelic drugs in general – including LSD, as well as Ecstasy or MDMA.

genre’s popularity suffered in the U.S. it soared across the Atlantic in the UK, entering the mainstream in the late 1980s.

London’s Shroom club opened in November 1987 and was one of the first in Britain to bring acid house to a British audience, and sparked the ‘second summer of love’.

Another club, Trip followed suit, opening in June 1988 at the Astoria in the capital’s West End. The club was known for its intensity and stayed open until 3am. Ravers would spill on to the streets of London chanting, attracting police attention regularly.

The acid house music genre developed in Chicago, Illinois before its popularity took hold in the UK and the genre entered British mainstream music in the late 1980s

Police would raid the after-hours parties, leading the ravers to disperse, assembling in warehouses and other secret venues away from the eye of the law.

It was with the rise of the rave, that Tony Colston-Hayter stepped into the acid house scene.
Taking centre stage at the age of 22, the man who became known as the Acid House King, renamed his company Sunrise.

After setbacks at venues in the capital the Acid House King moved his events to the countryside in the summer of 1989.

The Sunrise movement was distinguished by the smiley faced t-shirts favoured by ravers

Flyers included no address, just a phone number and the answer machine was updated with a string of locations, making getting to the raves an intriuging treasure hunt.

As the movement grew, panic ensued.

The police formed Pay Party Unit, a new squad dedicated to clamping down on unlicensed parties.

People were dismayed that the ravers were not grubby, dreadlocked outsiders but well-spoken rightwing entrepreneurs.

Sunrise launched the Freedom to Party campaign at the 1989 Conservative Party conference in Blackpool.

‘Maggie should be proud of us, we’re a product of enterprise culture,’ Colston-Hayter said.

But they could not compete in the face of the mounting opposition.

Their New Year’s Eve party lost its venue.

Then a private member’s bill created a new law that increased fines for unlicensed parties. 

With Sunrise dead, Colston-Hayter pursued his Freedom To Party campaign.

Ultimately Colston-Hayter’s instinct proved correct.

The acid house movement paved the way for extended opening hours for clubs.

Comments (11)

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PCofCourse,

Wellingborough, England,

58 minutes ago

Acieeeeed!!!

Dr Ebola,

Manchester, United Kingdom,

59 minutes ago

In today’s economic climate there are many who would consider this man a hero.

Magoo,

London, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

Glad to see most commenting here are fully aware of how our judicial system works, this lot will be seen as horrible little upstarts with the audacity to steal from the banks, hence heavy imprisonment. Guinness and others over the years seen as part of the old boys network that is corrupt through and through, a slap on the behind, enjoyable for this lot and let out early for health reasons. Watch what happens with the recent banking scandles and the libor rate fixing. They would get less if they murdered a few of us fellow upstarts.

joeninety,

Cyberspace,

1 hour ago

But the banks stole our cash. Who got jail time then?

walter,

Helsinki,

1 hour ago

Under british justice, Robin Hood was a criminal and King John a true and brave up holder of the law. Nothings changed same old system, rich get rich and the poor get poorer.

IWantMyCountryBack,

Overpopulated, United Kingdom,

1 hour ago

You rob a bank, you get time, a bank robs you, they get a bonus.

WiseOne,

London, United Kingdom,

2 hours ago

Quote- Britains’s most infamous all-night raves where drugs were peddled to children as young as 12.

What total rubbish! I used to go to Sunrise (Organised by Tomy C-H) back in the late 80s early 90s and there was no way 12 year olds were even there let alone taking drugs. Great nights, a feeling of togetherness that has been lost in this dog eat dog world of today inhabitated by narcissists greedy vultures…..

holgate,

Cambridge, United Kingdom,

2 hours ago

Thieving scum

DefJam,

london,

3 hours ago

thing is….in the eyes of the british judicial system …this is worse than murder…taking a few grand ..without being a member of an old boys city institution is NOT ALLOWED….THEIR SENTENCES WILL BE HARSH…nick leeson can lose billions and get 6 years…so i estimate for 780k loss and not being city boys …probably about 10 years for the leader.

StonedNotStupid,

Bottom Left Corner, United States,

3 hours ago

Corporate ripping off the people, no jail time, minimal fines. People rip off corporate, life plus a thousand years and billions in fines, isn’t justice grand?

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Cyber gang led by former rave promoter dubbed the "Acid House King" are facing years behind bars for plundering £1.25m