Summary
- A Scottish court sentenced Robert Barr to eight years for planning an attempted theft of up to £2 million ($2.7 million) in cryptocurrency while he was incarcerated.
- He recruited two accomplices to have the victim install AnyDesk, enabling remote control of the victim’s computer and subsequent transfer of the funds.
- The scheme collapsed when the victims, seeing the intruders on their doorbell camera, declined to open the door.
A man who orchestrated an attempted £2 million ($2.7 million) cryptocurrency theft from his prison cell has been sentenced to eight years by Scotland’s High Court of Justiciary.
He recruited two accomplices to have the victim install AnyDesk, enabling remote control of the victim’s computer and subsequent transfer of the funds.
The scheme collapsed when the victims, seeing the intruders on their doorbell camera, declined to open the door.
A man who orchestrated an attempted £2 million ($2.7 million) cryptocurrency theft from his prison cell has been sentenced to eight years by Scotland’s High Court of Justiciary.
Robert Barr, 29, pleaded guilty alongside Sean Favier, 26, and Iain Doyle, 37, for involvement in serious organised crime related to the attempted theft, according to a sentencing statement released by Scotland’s Judicial Office on Tuesday. Lord Cubie sentenced Favier to four years and Doyle to five years at Glasgow’s High Court.
“This case combined 21st‑century computer sophistication with traditional housebreaking in an audacious bid to steal up to £2 million worth of cryptocurrency,” Lord Cubie said.
The scheme, as outlined by the court, required Favier and Doyle to break into the victims’ Midlothian home near Edinburgh, compel the occupant to use his computer and install AnyDesk, a remote‑access tool, allowing Barr—who was serving a 21‑month fraud sentence at HMP Edinburgh—to remotely control the machine and move the cryptocurrency to wallets he owned.
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Prosecutors described Barr as a “sophisticated cybercriminal” able to “orchestrate a level of criminality rarely seen within mainstream investigations.” He had a previous conviction for a crypto fraud, and organised the new offence while in prison “using plainly illicit means of being in contact or online,” Lord Cubie said, calling those materially aggravating factors.
The judge noted that the plot was thwarted because the victims refused to open their front door to unknown, masked individuals. Lord Cubie will consider imposing a serious crime prevention order on Barr on November 17, and Barr remains in custody pending potential extradition.
Months of planning
Had the men got inside, the plot would likely have escalated into a so‑called wrench attack, in which criminals use force or the threat of it to make crypto holders hand over their funds. Such attacks are trending toward a record year, with more than $30 million stolen in the first half of 2026, per a Chainalysis report.
The United Kingdom has also experienced several recent wrench‑attack cases. Earlier this year, three teenagers were convicted after stealing $4.3 million in cryptocurrency at knifepoint, and three men were sentenced last month for a thwarted home invasion targeting crypto holdings. In September, Crimestoppers posted a reward of up to £10,000 for information concerning an attack on a UK couple, alleging that a fourth individual transmitted instructions to the assailants via video call.