Scottish Prisoner Gets Eight Years for Failed £2M Crypto Theft Plot

A Scottish prisoner who directed an attempt to steal cryptocurrency worth up to £2 million has been sentenced to eight years in prison. Robert Barr orchestrated the failed operation from behind bars, arranging for two accomplices to approach a couple’s home and secure access to their computer.

Lord Cubie sentenced Barr, 29, at the High Court in Glasgow on November 10, 2026. Sean Favier, 26, received four years and Iain Doyle, 37, received five years after all three admitted involvement in serious organised crime connected to the attempted theft.

According to Scotland’s Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Barr instructed his associates to enter a house in Midlothian and force a husband and wife to provide access to their cryptocurrency wallet. Prosecutors identified him as the leader of the organised group behind the offence, although the operation never progressed to a successful transfer.

The plan depended on combining physical intimidation with remote computer access. As described in the sentencing statement, Favier and Doyle were to get inside the property and make the victim download AnyDesk, allowing Barr to control the computer from prison and transfer cryptocurrency into accounts under his control.

AnyDesk is legitimate software commonly used for remote technical support and file sharing, the judge explained. Its intended role here was not to break into a cryptocurrency network, but to give Barr control of the victims’ computer after his accomplices had compelled their cooperation.

The attempt took place at about 11:30 p.m. on April 17, 2024. Favier and Doyle arrived wearing dark clothing with their faces obscured, but the couple saw them through a doorbell camera and spoke through its intercom rather than opening the door. Unable to gain entry, the men quickly left.

The investigation later uncovered the communications behind the scheme. Prosecutors said officers at HMP Edinburgh seized Barr’s phone two months after the attempted intrusion and discovered messages linking him to the plan. Those exchanges exposed preparations for the visit and his instructions to associates outside prison.

Bitcoin.com News reported that investigators reconstructed months of surveillance, reconnaissance and discussions contemplating intimidation or violence. The publication also reported an earlier burglary in which a hardware wallet was stolen but the cryptocurrency could not be accessed, providing background to the subsequent attempt to obtain the victims’ cooperation directly.

At sentencing, Lord Cubie rejected Barr’s effort to portray himself as easily influenced, pointing to his leadership and technical capabilities. The court treated his previous cryptocurrency fraud conviction and his organisation of another offence while imprisoned as aggravating factors. The failed outcome did not remove the seriousness of the planned intrusion or its potential for violence.

Barr’s eight-year sentence runs from August 25, 2025, when his previous prison term expired. The court deferred consideration of a serious crime prevention order until November 17, 2026. Prosecutors said they would continue working with justice partners against criminal misuse of virtual currencies.