James Delahunty
4 Feb 2013 16:08
Teenager lucky to escape jail sentence.
Jake Birchall (or Fennic) was 16 years old when the Operation Payback actions were taken in 2010, reportedly in response to PayPal's refuse to process Wikileaks donations. Two others involved in the attack were jailed for their part, while another received a suspended sentence.
Due to Birchall being underage at the time of the attacks, judge Peter Testar did not hand out a custodial sentence, but according to the Guardian, he made it clear that if Birchall had been older he'd have received a substantial sentence.
Instead, Birchall has been given an eight month youth rehabilitation order and 60 hours of community service. "The fact of the matter is although he had and has a disadvantage in life he did actually play an important role," said the judge.
"He did play a prominent and important part in this and I think he has got to learn to get out of bed in a morning and do unpaid work."
The Judge was referring to psychiatric and pre-sentencing reports that described the defendant as isolated.