Robert Barr jailed for eight years over attempted crypto theft

Robert Barr was sentenced to eight years in prison on Tuesday for directing an attempted £2 million ($2.7 million) cryptocurrency theft from his cell at HMP Edinburgh, the High Court in Glasgow said.

The court imposed the following sentences:

• Robert Barr: eight years in prison.
• Iain Doyle: five years in prison.
• Sean Favier: four years in prison.

All three men pleaded guilty to involvement in serious organized crime before sentencing. Barr was already serving a 21-month sentence for cryptocurrency-related fraud when he organized the operation.

The plan failed at the front door

At 11:30 p.m. on April 17, 2024, Favier and Doyle arrived at a couple’s home. The occupants spotted them on the doorbell camera and refused to open the door. The pair left without gaining entry. Their visit ended the operation before any cryptocurrency moved.

That failure mattered because the physical visit was only the first step in a scheme designed to turn a home computer into a route for stealing wallet funds.

How the remote-access scheme worked

According to the court, the plan relied on AnyDesk, software that lets users access and control another computer remotely. Barr wanted Favier and Doyle to enter the victims’ home. They were supposed to make the homeowner download AnyDesk. Barr then planned to control the couple’s computer from prison.

Once connected, he would enter a receiving cryptocurrency address. He would move funds from the victims’ wallet into accounts under his control. The chain depended on physical entry, a remote-control installation and a wallet transfer.

The court described one operational chain. Barr supplied the direction and the wallet-transfer method. Favier and Doyle were to provide the physical access needed to install the software.

No digital connection or transfer occurred. The pair’s refusal at the door stopped the chain before AnyDesk could be installed.

The phone evidence exposed the plot

Investigators seized Barr’s phone on June 25, 2024. Messages on it detailed his role and his instructions to Favier and Doyle. Those communications tied the prison-based direction to the two men’s attempted entry.

The recovered messages did more than identify the prison suspect. They connected Barr’s instructions with Favier and Doyle’s assignment, giving investigators a line from direction to execution.

The earlier fraud conviction mattered at sentencing. Organizing another offense from prison was a material aggravating factor, Lord Cubie said.

His sentencing remarks put a higher trial outcome in view. “In terms of the sentence to be imposed if you had been found guilty after trial, I would have imposed a sentence of eight years and ten months,” he said.

The eight-year sentence followed Barr’s guilty plea. It stood two months below the term the judge had specified for a verdict after trial.

What does the case change for crypto users?

For crypto users, the case documents a remote-access theft model built around a physical visit. A refused entry and a blocked software download stopped the operation before any wallet transfer could begin.

The practical distinction is that the intended theft depended on getting remote-control software installed. Preventing that installation interrupts the sequence before funds move. The plan used a home visit to obtain control of a computer, while prison-based instructions supplied the steps for transferring wallet funds.

For investigators, the seized messages provided the bridge between the prison directions and the home visit. The case therefore joined a physical attempted entry, device evidence and a remote-access tool into one provable operation.

Barr’s case is not finished. He faces a serious crime prevention hearing on Nov. 17, the next fixed date in the case.