Barras market trader jailed for helping gangs dodge police surveillance
Ian Sweeney, 53, used the encrypted EncroChat network to offer anti-surveillance services to criminals across the UK. He receives two years on top of an existing five-year sentence.
Glasgow market trader sentenced for counter-surveillance role in organised crime
A former trader at Glasgow's Barras market has been handed a two-year prison sentence after helping criminal gangs evade police tracking and listening devices, BBC News reports.
Ian Sweeney, 53, from North Lanarkshire, charged thousands of pounds to sweep properties and vehicles for surveillance equipment and to advise associates on how to avoid detection. The sentence, imposed at the High Court in Glasgow, will run consecutively with a five-year term he is already serving following a 2023 drug dealing conviction.
Sweeney had pleaded guilty in March to involvement with organised crime. His activities came to light after French and Dutch law enforcement authorities cracked the encrypted EncroChat messaging platform and identified his username among its users.
Prosecutor Margaret Barron told the court that Sweeney had "developed a reputation within criminal circles" for gathering information on individuals, including locating people on request. He was in regular contact with more than 100 associates on EncroChat, offering what he described as "anti-surveillance measures" to help them avoid police scrutiny.
In exchanges uncovered from the platform, Sweeney stated that although he was based in Scotland he travelled throughout the UK providing advice, and quoted a fee of £1,500 for a "bug sweep" of any house or office in a European country.
The court also heard that Sweeney had installed concealed "stash" areas in cars to facilitate the covert transportation of drugs. He used EncroChat to source narcotics from one contact and supply them to another, including 5kg of cocaine, and was involved in discussions about moving a large consignment of cannabis.
Presiding Judge Lord Colbeck described the offence as "a particularly serious one" meriting a custodial sentence.
In mitigation, defence counsel Thomas Ross KC said Sweeney had a long-standing interest in technology and was "entirely self-taught," having begun with legitimate counter-surveillance work before word spread within criminal networks about his capabilities. Ross said Sweeney had never physically handled any narcotics and had acted as a "middle man, being paid commission," adding that his client was ashamed of his involvement in drugs.
Sweeney told the court he had previously worked for a "professional counter surveillance and intelligence company" that operated "throughout the world" for banks and energy firms before it dissolved in 2018.
Sineidin Corrins, from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said the sentence sent a "strong message" to others about the capacity of police and prosecutors to pursue organised crime.
Source: BBC News