04/11/2009 - Remote systems track stolen laptops
Experts have used remote technology and a webcam to catch a store owner who purchased two stolen laptops.
Merseyside's Samir Haddad, 20, bought two Samsungs worth £2,000, unaware that computer specialists probing the theft had their eyes on him as he logged on and off.
They remotely activated the webcams and took photographs of him, which later became useful in court.
The theft occurred in July in the office of Linda Adkins, a company secretary at The International Coaching Academy in Liverpool.
With the aid of the firm's IT help team, the PC Support Group, she was able to get them back.
Liverpool Magistrates' Court was told that IT experts used software and remote technology to find Haddad's location and give Merseyside Police a file of evidence.
They were able to hand over his address to police after he entered his address on an auto trading website. Police found the laptops after raiding the property.
Important work records including client details and confidential accounts were retrieved via remote computer systems even before the laptops were recovered.
Haddad, of Park Road, Toxteth, pleaded guilty to two charges of receiving stolen goods and was handed a three-month curfew order.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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