'Hacker' creates anarchy in bestseller lists

Jake Davis, clutching a copy of the book Free Radicals, leaves Westminster magistrates' court yesterday (Getty Images)

Shielded from the flashing cameras by a pair of sunglasses and clutching a book entitled Free Radicals: The Secret Anarchy of Science, the alleged LulzSec hacker Jake Davis left court yesterday morning after a judge granted him bail.

The 18-year-old was arrested by the Metropolitan Police's eCrimes unit at his home in the Shetland Islands last Wednesday. He has been charged with five computer-related offences including the alleged participation in a disruption attack against the public website of the Serious Organised Crime Agency earlier this year.

Dressed in a denim shirt and black T-shirt, he appeared at Westminster magistrates' court for a bail hearing in which prosecutors alleged that he was a prominent member of the LulzSec and Anonymous hacking collectives and owned a laptop with more than 750,000 private user details.

In opposing the custody application Mr Davis's defence argued that he was simply publicising other people's hacking work and did not have the ability to carry out the attacks. District judge Howard Riddle agreed to grant the teenager bail as long as he stays with his parents at their home in Spalding, Lincolnshire, abides by a curfew and stays away from the internet, including smartphones.

Prosecutors said police have accused Mr Davis, operating under the online name of Topiary, of gathering data from NHS computers, disrupting Soca and being involved in a hacking attack on the servers of News International in which a fake article was posted claiming that Rupert Murdoch had died. He is also accused of involvement in a breach claimed by LulzSec of Sony Pictures Entertainment during which hundreds of thousands of user details were stolen, some of which were posted online.

Rav Choda, for the prosecution, said police recovered a laptop at Mr Davis's home containing files that included more than 750,000 personal details including email and log-ins.