LONDON (Reuters) - A teenage computer hacker who stole credit card information from thousands of people and used Bill Gates's card details to send Viagra to the Microsoft chief escaped a jail sentence in a Welsh court on Friday.
Judge Gareth Davies ruled that Raphael Gray, 19, who was arrested in an FBI and Welsh police swoop on his home village of Clynderwen, west Wales, in March last year should instead undergo psychiatric treatment.
"He has a community rehabilitation order for three years, with psychiatric treatment," a Swansea Crown Court official said.
The court heard that Gray, the self-styled "Saint of E-commerce" had hacked into Web sites from his bedroom and displayed credit card details of thousands of people to show how bad computer security was.
Gray had pleaded guilty to 10 counts of computer fraud although he had not gained financially from his crimes.
Afterwards, he told reporters: "I would do it all again but another time I would choose to ensure that I acted legally."
The judge had considered jailing Gray, but medical reports showed that his mental state had deteriorated after he fell and banged his head when he was 14 years old.
Gray hacked into retail Web sites in Britain, the United States, Canada and Thailand between January and February 1999.
He used Gates's details to have the male anti-impotence drug Viagra sent to the world's richest man's address.
Credit card companies incurred heavy costs cancelling the accounts of people whose card details he displayed on his Web sites.
Gray's defense counsel, Colin Nicholls, described his client as "highly strung, if not disturbed."
Gray was unemployed at the time of the offences but has since been given a job by a computer software company.
