Office worker charged with hacking into confidential emails of MP Alex Easton to change defence team
A Co Down woman who allegedly hacked into the computer of Alex Easton and printed off confidential emails between the MP and his solicitor, has been given six weeks to find a new legal team.
Representing herself at Newtownards Magistrates’ Court, Clare Canon told the court she wanted to change solicitors.
Canon, who was manager in Mr Easton’s constituency office and is from the Kylestone Road in Bangor, faces three charges including theft, harassment and unauthorised computer access.
The particulars of the various offences alleged that 47-year-old Canon, stole “documentation to the total value of undetermined belonging” to Mr Easton on February 7; that she “pursued a course of conduct which amounted to harassment” of the MP on January 7 and further that on January 11, she “caused a computer to perform a function with intent to secure access to a program or data held in a computer or to enable any such access to be secured, the access you intended to secure or to enable to be secured being unauthorised”.
Defence lawyers previously told the court that “it’s not a grievance – it is a case with elements of whistle blowing”.
The court has also heard that Canon has made complaints to the Police Ombudsman’s Office regarding “unlawful arrest, unlawful searches and a lack of police impartiality”.
The charges arise after Mr Easton reported that “an employee at his constituency office had unlawfully accessed material on his computer”.
A police officer has claimed that “emails between the MP and his solicitor had been printed off”.
He told the court the harassment offence arose after Canon sent around 50 emails to Mr Easton “which were unwanted and considered to be harassment”.
When Canon’s home was searched on February 26, officers retrieved “hard copies of the emails between Mr Easton and his solicitor” but when the defendant was interviewed under caution, “she gave no comment” to the questions.
Having heard that Canon had dispensed with her previous legal team, District Judge Mark Hamill lamented that the case “is dragging on a bit”.
Freeing Canon on continuing bail, he adjourned the case for six weeks to October 8.
A short time later, Canon’s previous defence counsel tried to call the case but Judge Hamill told him: “You’ve been sacked, move on.”