A Scottish court has sentenced a prisoner to eight additional years in jail for directing an attempted £2 million ($2.7 million) cryptocurrency theft from his cell. Robert Barr, 29, received the sentence on Nov. 10, 2026, at the High Court in Glasgow, where Judge Lord Cubie handed down the term.

Two other men were sentenced alongside Barr. Sean Favier, 26, was given four years, while Iain Doyle, 37, received five years. All three pleaded guilty to involvement in serious organized crime. The plot relied on a remote-access application called AnyDesk and collapsed after the targeted couple saw the intruders on a doorbell camera and refused to open their door.

A Scottish court jailed Robert Barr for 8 years over an attempted £2M ($2.7M) crypto theft. Barr, 29, planned to use AnyDesk so he could take over a victim's computer from prison. The plot failed when the victims spotted the men on a doorbell camera. #Scotland #Crypto pic.twitter.com/uwCtHv98LV

— John Morgan (@johnmorganFL) November 11, 2026

How the Plot Worked

Barr was already serving a 21-month sentence at HMP Edinburgh for crypto-related fraud when he set the scheme in motion. According to court records, he used illicit mobile phones to run the operation from inside the prison. Mobile phones are banned in UK prisons, making his ability to direct accomplices from custody a factor the judge weighed at sentencing.

The target was a couple in Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, whose crypto holdings were worth up to £2 million, or about $2.7 million. Under Barr's instructions, his accomplices were to enter the couple's home and make the homeowner install AnyDesk, a remote desktop program built for legitimate remote IT support that allows one person to control another computer from far away. With that access secured, Barr planned to enter his own receiving address and then move the couple's crypto into accounts under his control.

Investigators recovered messages from Barr's phone that showed surveillance of the couple and detailed planning. The exchanges also contained talk of possible intimidation or violence, and one message urged the men to get the homeowner onto his computer fast.

The attempted theft followed an earlier burglary at the property in January 2024. On that occasion, the thieves took a hardware wallet — a physical device used to store the private keys that control access to crypto — but could not get into the crypto stored on it. That outcome reflects a core feature of these devices: possessing a hardware wallet alone does not unlock the funds it protects.

Why the Attempt Failed

The second attempt came at about 11:30 p.m. on April 17, 2024. Favier and Doyle arrived at the home wearing dark clothing with their faces covered. The couple saw the men on a doorbell camera — a home security device that streams live footage of a doorway to a smartphone — and refused to open the door, and the two left without getting inside.

Police seized Barr's phone on June 25, 2024. The messages stored on the device laid out his role in the scheme and his instructions to the other two men.

Sentencing and Judicial Findings

In sentencing, Lord Cubie described the crime as one that “married 21st-century computer sophistication with old-fashioned housebreaking.” He said the plan failed only because the victims did not open their door.

The judge rejected Barr's claim that he had been easily led. He found that Barr was the head of the group and a skilled cybercriminal. Lord Cubie also determined that Doyle knew violence was possible, while Favier played a smaller part in the plot.

The judge said Barr's decision to plan another crime from behind bars was a “material aggravating factor.” He indicated that the sentence would have been eight years and ten months had the case gone to trial.

Barr's new term runs from Aug. 25, 2025, when his earlier sentence ended. A hearing on a Serious Crime Prevention Order for Barr is scheduled for Nov. 17. Such an order is a civil measure courts can impose after a conviction to restrict a person's activities — potentially including communications and financial dealings — with the aim of preventing further serious crime, and the hearing will set out the terms that may apply to Barr.