A BANK worker who quit his job and hacked the computer system to take photos of employees and change passwords has avoided jail.

Ashley Crispin who worked as an IT Service Desk Analyst at the British Business Bank and Start Up Loans in the City tried to hide his digital tracks and even applied for another job without telling his prospective employers he was being investigated.

He managed to hinder access to the company’s computers, accessed the webcam of a colleague, blocked the ‘scan document’ function on another worker’s computer and then deleted the VPN logs.

The 23-year-old, of Wickford Place, in Basildon, was handed a two year sentence suspended for eight months, after pleading guilty to four offences under the Computer Misuse Act and an offence of fraud by false representation.

City of London Police Detective Sergeant Michael O’Sullivan said: “Crispin was an arrogant individual capable of carrying out sophisticated cyber crimes, which may not have benefitted him financially, but were done with the knowledge they would be disruptive and intrusive to his employers and colleagues.

“He abused the trust placed in him and consequently may never be able to work in this sector again.

“Following a report to Action Fraud which was disseminated to our Cyber Crime Unit, we were able to arrest Crispin and quickly identify indisputable evidence on his devices, proving his criminality.”

Sentencing him at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Jeremy Donne, QC said: “To say you have behaved utterly stupidly is almost a grotesque understatement.”

Crispin was also given a three month tagged curfew, ordered to pay £800 and told to forfeit all digital devices, having admitted all offences at an earlier court appearance.