Hacking probe takes toll
A police investigation into an alleged Anonymous hacker from Perth is having a "devastating" effect on his life, a court has been told.
Adam John Bennett, 40, is charged with “being a person that did cause the unauthorised impairment of electronic communications to a computer by means of a carriage service.”
The Scarborough man appeared in Perth Magistrate's Court today, where prosecutor Lindsay Glenn applied for the case to be adjourned.
Mr Glenn said a "huge amount" of material, including 9000 Facebook messages, still needed to be considered by federal authorities.
It will be alleged Mr Bennett, who operated under the pseudonym of “Lorax”, hacked AAPT servers in 2012 and obtained names and email addresses.
Defence lawyer Maria-Elena Cheshire opposed the application for an adjournment, arguing the prolonged investigation was having a devastating effect on her client.
She told the court Mr Bennett had lost his job and had to give up his voluntary surf lifesaving position as a result of the charges.
Ms Cheshire said Mr Bennett was subject to unrealistic bail conditions and asked Chief Magistrate Steven Heath to discontinue the charges while the case was being investigated.
Mr Heath granted the adjournment and said it would be premature for bail to be changed.
Mr Bennett will appear in court again on March 4.
