Prisoner Jailed for 8 Years Over $2.7M Crypto Theft Plot Run From His Cell

A man who directed an attempted £2 million ($2.7 million) cryptocurrency theft from his prison cell has been jailed for eight years by Scotland's High Court of Justiciary.

Robert Barr, 29, pleaded guilty along with Sean Favier, 26, and Iain Doyle, 37, to being involved in serious organised crime as part of the attempted theft, according to a sentencing statement published by Scotland's Judicial Office on Tuesday. Lord Cubie sentenced Favier to four years and Doyle to five years at the High Court in Glasgow.

"This was a crime which married 21st century computer sophistication with old fashioned housebreaking in an audacious attempt to steal cryptocurrency worth up to £2 million pounds," Lord Cubie said.

The plan, according to the court's account, was for Favier and Doyle to get into the victims' home in Midlothian, near Edinburgh, and make the man go onto his computer and download AnyDesk, a remote-access program. That would let Barr, who was serving a 21-month sentence at HMP Edinburgh for fraud, take control of the computer from prison and transfer the crypto to wallets he controlled.

The two men went to the house at around 11:30 p.m. on April 17, 2024, but the couple saw them on their doorbell camera and refused to let them in. One of the men looked into the lens and asked whether there was a camera in front of him before the pair left, the BBC reported.



Months of planning

The attempt followed months of preparation, including identifying the victim as a crypto holder, gathering images of the house and reconnaissance, all of which investigators pieced together from Barr's phone after it was seized in June 2024, the judge said. Messages on the phone "plainly contemplated threats and/or violence," he added.

The victim was a co-founder of a crypto startup who did not advertise his holdings, but followed mostly crypto-related accounts on social media, according to the BBC. Barr's associates had already burgled the house in January 2024 and taken a crypto wallet, but could not access the funds without its PIN, the court heard.

Prosecutors described Barr as a "sophisticated cybercriminal" able to "orchestrate a level of criminality rarely seen within mainstream investigations." He had a previous conviction for a crypto fraud, and organised the new offence while in prison "using plainly illicit means of being in contact or online," Lord Cubie said, calling those materially aggravating factors.

The judge said that the plot was only frustrated because the victims "had the sense not to open their front door" to unknown men with their faces covered. Lord Cubie will consider a serious crime prevention order against Barr on November 17. Barr is also in custody awaiting potential extradition, the judge noted.

A rise in wrench attacks

Had the men got inside, the plot would likely have escalated into a so-called wrench attack, in which criminals use force or the threat of it to make crypto holders hand over their funds. Such attacks are on pace for a record year, with more than $30 million stolen in the first half of 2026, according to a Chainalysis report.

Crypto Wrench Attacks on Pace for Record Year as $30M Stolen in 2026: Chainalysis

The UK has seen several recent cases. Three teenagers were jailed earlier this year after stealing $4.3 million in crypto at knifepoint, and three men were sentenced last month over a failed home invasion aimed at stealing crypto. In September, Crimestoppers offered a reward of up to £10,000 for information on an attack on a UK couple in which, police believe, a fourth man relayed instructions to the three attackers over a video call.