A disgruntled employee who was fired from his job at Sky tried to blackmail the firm's chief executive and customers - threatening to leak data if they didn't pay him Bitcoin.
Imoudu Chaba, 37, sent letters from his home in Wythenshawe to several customers with pictures of their home addresses, which he threatened to post on the dark web if they didn't pay.
He also sent a letter to the firm's then chief executive Jeremy Darroch and shareholders, which promised to leak millions of customers' details if they didn't send him three Bitcoins - worth approximately £45,000 at the time.
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In a letter to Mr Darroch, Chaba claimed that over one million customer records had been obtained by a 'former employee who had been unfairly dismissed from the company.'
Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court heard the dad-of-two sent a letter to one customer advising them that there had been a data breach and that their details would be posted on the dark web. He demanded they pay £500 to have their data removed.
Robert Smith, prosecuting, told the court the blackmail campaign went on for around two years, from 2015 to 2017. In one letter, a QR code was posted for the Bitcoin to be paid to and contained a screenshot of a map which showed the location of the victim's home.
"Another customer received an almost identical letter," Mr Smith said. "The defendant said that at the age of 68 ‘you don’t want Sky to give you this stress.’" The court heard that another customer received a screenshot of a street view image of their exact house, which was immediately reported to the police.
Each photograph was accompanied by a symbol of a jester mask underneath it, the court heard. Chaba's house was searched in January 2020 where copies of the letters and a spreadsheet with customer's personal details were found on his computer.
It's understood he had been employed by Sky in 2015 as a service specialist consultant and had access to all customer's details and services. None of the threats made in the letters were acted on and no money was ever received by Chaba, the court heard.
Defending, Oliver Jarvis said his client was extremely remorseful for his behaviour and 'doesn't recognise the man who committed these offences' and had 'turned his life around.'
"He is the first to admit it was appalling and embarrassing and he is ashamed. He was going through all sorts of financial difficulties and was having some kind of breakdown," Mr Jarvis said.
"He has a wife and two young children and he is the sole earner and cares for his mum who has cancer."
Chaba, of Heybrook Road in Manchester, was jailed for two years and four months after admitting four offences of blackmail after Judge Andrea Nield said the offences were so serious only immediate custody would be appropriate.
"Offences of blackmail are treated very seriously by this court. They are mean offences and cause untold misery to those who are victims," she said, passing sentence.
"You clearly had a grudge towards Sky. It is quite clear from the terms of the letter and the letter to the individuals that you felt sufficiently aggrieved by the parting of ways by your employer.
"These were not unsophisticated offences. That is a matter of some concern. They were committed via the use of an account on the dark web and the demand was for Bitcoin.
"Rather more sinister was the photograph of the area of the individual's home and in at least one case the very house where they lived. The sanctity of their safe place as threatened by a singular picture. The message was clear.
"For emphasis with the image of a jester mask which appeared underneath the picture in each case. It was designed to cause maximum stress. In my view sentences of these matters must send a threat to anyone who will be tempted to behave in this way."
