A man hacked his wife’s Facebook account over worries she was having an affair.
Michal Kowalski, 40, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 when he appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court.
Keith Ballinger, prosecuting, said the defendant gained access to a Facebook account belonging to his wife of 16 years on 21 March last year – before changing her password and locking her out.
He went on to impersonate the woman, sending a message to her sister stating: “My husband knows about everything, he knows I cheated on him.”
But his wife was in fact sitting with her sister at the time and she reported the matter to the police.
In an interview, Kowalski made admissions to the crime – telling officers that he was ‘down in his life’. He confirmed accessing her account but wouldn’t explain why.
Duty solicitor Tim Morgan, defending, said his client’s offending was “right at the lower end of the legislation”, which was brought in to deal with more serious cases of hacking.
He said that the defendant was a first responder for a gas firm at the time – which was stressful; he would attend properties with possible gas leaks whilst on-call in the middle of the night.
“It was well-paid but dangerous. It took its toll on him and he was signed off and unable to work for nine months”, Mr Morgan said.
He added that Kowalski was both concerned that his wife was having an affair and that she had lent around £4,000 to a relative who subsequently disappeared. He was worried that she may be in touch with him and was not asking for the money back.
Divorce proceedings are now underway but the defendant maintains contact with their child.
The NHS transport ambulance worker, of Edinburgh Street, Swindon, was fined £250 and told to pay £85 prosecuting costs and a £34 surcharge.
