A 58-year-old Minsterworth businessman hacked another company’s computer on a “significant” number of occasions.

Paul Gould, of The Street, admitted a computer hacking offence when he appeared at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court.

He was ordered to do 160 hours of unpaid work for the benefit of the community.

He was also placed on a one year community order and must pay £85 costs and a £90 victim services surcharge.

Passing sentence, District Judge Nicholas Wattam said the penalty he imposed reflected the “significant number of occasions” Gould accessed the computer and the impact of the offence on the company involved.

Gould pleaded guilty “causing a computer to perform a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to a program or data” between July 18 2019 and January 14 2020.

Companies House lists Paul Gould as an active director of Venturer Construction Ltd.  He is described as a ‘construction manager/director.’

The firm is registered at his home address.