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LONDON - One of Britain's richest men was jailed yesterday for hiring a crooked detective agency whose services included bugging telephone conversations, hacking into computers and obtaining private medical and banking records.
Adrian Kirby, a waste disposal tycoon worth an estimated £65 million ($184 million), was sentenced to nine months in jail for paying £47,000 to the agency to spy on people he thought were complaining about his company.
These include council officials investigating allegations of illegal dumping by his waste firm.
The detective firm, which was run by a former police officer, employed computer specialists, serving officers and retired detectives to bug and spy on people from 1999 and 2004. Charges ranged from £500 for confidential medical records to £3000 to bug a target's telephone.
- INDEPENDENT
