John Andreas Wik, of Limes Road, managed to take over the free WiFi networks offered at some Network Rail stations across Britian, as well as other places elsewhere and abroad, redirecting them to a landing page with the Islamophobic messaging on September 25 last year.
The page contained references to previous terrorist attacks that had taken place in the UK and abroad, including 7/7 and the Manchester Arena bombing, with some who viewed the page fearing that that an attack was about to take place.
At the time, the now 37-year-old was an employee at Global Reach Technology, the company that managed the free WiFi for the Network Rail’s busiest stations as well as Bicester Village shopping centre.
The company were quickly alerted to the incident, believing at first that Wik had been hacked by a third party.
However they soon after noticed that Wik had used his company-issued laptop to modify the landing pages and they reported the matter to the police.
Police arrested Wik the following day and found bookmarked pages of terrorist attacks and Islamophobic messaging on his phone and work laptop.
Appearing at Inner London Crown Court, Wik pleaded guilty to publishing or distributing material intended to stir up religious hatred.
On Wednesday (July 9), he was sentenced to 24 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.
He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £150 and ordered to undertake 280 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of rehabilitation activity.
DC Adrienne Curzon said: “This was a highly planned and disturbing abuse of power and access that caused distress and genuine fear to some of those who witnessed his hateful messaging.
“Everybody deserves to feel safe when they travel on the railway network, and abuse, intimidation, and violence motivated by hate will never be tolerated.
“We will continue to act swiftly and decisively, and we would encourage all passengers to save 61016 as a contact on their phone and report any suspicious behaviour or concerns they have to us.”
