UK Edition
Gordon Ramsay's father-in-law admits hacking into celebrity chef's computer to find picture of his lover
Gordon Ramsay’s father-in-law has admitted he hacked into a company computer system owned by the celebrity chef in order to find a picture of his own alleged lover, a court heard on Tuesday.
Chris Hutcheson, 68, pleaded guilty alongside his sons Adam Hutcheson, 46, and Chris Hutcheson Jnr, 45, after they were charged for attempting to gain access to private information held by the chef’s multi-million pound business, Gordon Ramsay Holdings Limited.
They now face up two years in prison - the maximum sentence that can be awarded to those found guilty of conspiring to cause a computer to access programmes and data without authority.
Appearing before the Old Bailey, Mr Hutcheson’s admission comes more than seven years after Ramsay sacked him as his main business partner, amid allegations he had used the company’s finances to fund his serial womanising.
Hutcheson, who denied the claims, branded Ramsay a fame-obsessed “monste”' in return and sued him for unfair dismissal and unpaid wages.
The fallout that ensued resulted in a string of high-profile legal cases being pursued by Ramsay against Mr Hutcheson, some of which were heard at the High Court.
In the latest case, Mr Hutchinson stands accused of attempting to hack into the company’s computer system in 2011, in order to discover whether Ramsay had been circulating a picture of his alleged mistress, Sara Stewart, a former employee.
Mr Hutchinson, his two sons and his daughter Orlanda Butland, 45, were later charged under Operation Tuleta, a probe launched by Scotland Yard to investigate alleged computer crime directed against celebrities. Ms Butland denies the charge and the prosecution have offered no evidence in relation to her case.
Following the allegations of hacking, Tana, Mr Ramsay’s wife, sided with her husband and severed ties with her parents, whilst also discovering that her father had also been keeping a second family secret for three decades.
Prosecuting, Dan Suter told a previous hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court how Mr Hutchinson’s dismissal in 2010 had “motivated” him to carry out the hack, which he is alleged to have planned through a series of email exchanges with his two sons.
The prosecution said that Mr Hutchinson had been involved in civil litigation following his dismissal, and that the accused had been attempting to gain access to material that might prove useful during the legal proceedings.
"At the time of the alleged conspiracy, Chris Hutcheson Snr had been dismissed by Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd. He has previously held a senior position with GRHL,” Mr Suter added.
"The prosecution would say as a result of that dismissal he was motivated to access unlawfully the computer system.”
The court also heard that Ms Stewart had complained of a breach in privacy in relation to a photograph of her, and that Mr Hutchinson had also been attempting to determine whether it had been passed on by Ramsay to a third party.
"It was alleged by Sara Stewart there had been a breach of privacy in relation to a photograph that was taken. It was alleged that he had been sent that email in breach of an undertaking.
"As a result of the alleged breach of privacy, it is then that the defendants tried to access the system, to determine whether Gordon Ramsay had then sent that picture on even further in breach of the undertaking."
Once Ramsay was alerted to the hack, he instructed an expert, who traced the IP addresses of the computers back to Mr Hutchinson and his children.
Mr Suter added that a Metropolitan Police expert had reviewed the log files, and found that the defendants had allegedly made almost 2,000 unauthorised entries into the company accounts of Gordon Ramsay Holdings Limited.
All the defendants were bailed after the judge at the Old Bailey agreed to the preparation of pre-sentence reports and said all sentencing options were open.
He adjourned sentencing to June 2 at the same court.