A 28-year-old man from Letchworth has been sentenced to three years and seven months behind bars after he attempted to blackmail his employer for £300,000.

Ashley Liles, of Fleetwood in Letchworth, had previously pleaded guilty to blackmail and unauthorised access to a computer with intent to commit other offences.

He received his sentence from Judge Hassan Khan at Reading Crown Court earlier this week, on Tuesday, July 11.

Liles was working as an IT security analyst for Oxford BioMedica in February 2018 when the company was subjected to a security attack. The attacker demanded a ransom payment of £300,000 in Bitcoin, and Liles began to investigate the incident. 

He then conducted a separate and secondary attack against the company in an attempt to have the ransom money paid to him, rather than to the original attacker.

Liles accessed the emails of senior board members more than 300 times, and altered the email address of the original attacker to an almost identical one.

The Comet: Ashley Liles attempted to extort £300,000 from his employer.Ashley Liles attempted to extort £300,000 from his employer. (Image: South East Regional Organised Crime Unit)

He then sent another email to Oxford BioMedica with his own payment details, and exerted pressure on the company to make the payment.

BioMedica refused to do so, and the unauthorised access to private emails was discovered. It was later found that the access had come from the address where Liles was living.

Officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit’s (SEROCU’s) Cyber Crime Unit arrested Liles and searched his property, seizing a computer, laptop, phone and USB stick.

Liles had wiped the data from his devices just days before his arrest, but officers were able to recover the information.

The defence barrister said that Liles' "lack of maturity" was a reason why the offences had occurred.

He said: "He’s somehow at a loss as to how he found himself committing these offences. He’s not had any financial gain and he’s lost a huge amount – a good career, a good name."

READ MORE: Stevenage woman arrested on suspicion of drink driving after Letchworth crash

Detective Inspector Rob Bryant, from the SEROCU Cyber Crime Unit, said: "This has been a complex and challenging investigation and I am extremely grateful for all the officers and staff that were involved for their commitment and dedication over a five-year period. 

"This case demonstrates that the police have the ability and technical skills to investigate cybercrime offences and bring cyber-criminals to justice.

"I would encourage all victims of cybercrime, whether businesses or individuals, to report to Action Fraud." 

Sentencing Liles, Judge Khan said: "It caused significant anxiety and stress for people who worked at the company. The CEO said the consequences of your actions has caused reputational damage and outside costs of £245,000."

Liles will serve half of his sentence before being released on licence.