UK court finds Craig Wright in contempt for violating order, sentences him to one year in prison

A UK court found Dr Craig Wright, the Australian computer scientist who falsely claimed to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, in contempt and sentenced him to one year in prison. This follows a lawsuit against him by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA).

COPA has accused Wright of flouting the July 2024 court order that barred the computer scientist from commencing any other legal proceedings based on his claim of being the creator of Bitcoin. According to the reports, Wright issued a claim in October for over 900 billion pounds ($1 trillion) for the intellectual property rights of the Bitcoin Network.

The presiding judge, Justice James Mellor, agreed with COPA’s arguments, noting that Wright’s recent action violated the Court order. Mellor was the judge who ruled that Wright was not Satoshi in March and granted the injunctions against him in July.

His ruling states:

“I have found, to the requisite criminal standard of proof, that Dr Wright committed each of the contempt alleged by COPA in their Grounds 1 to 5 inclusive. Indeed, in my judgment, there is no doubt whatever that each of these contempt has been proved.”

Mellor noted that Wright’s allegation of passing off is a fundamental misunderstanding of the legal doctrine because it implies his ownership of the Bitcoin network. This claim of ownership directly violates the court injunction. The judge has now dismissed the $1 trillion case.

Judge directs Wright to appeal if unsatisfied with a court injunction

The Court ruling further represents another win for Bitcoin developers, who have been the major targets of Wright’s legal action. However, Wright, who attended the proceeding remotely, argued that the Court did not address some major issues and that he would appeal the finding. Interestingly, Wright’s appeal against the previous court judgment has already been dismissed in November.

In response, the judge disagreed with Wright’s argument about his previous judgment, noting that none of Wright’s new arguments was convincing and that he would not reconsider his findings. He added that Wright could appeal the judgment to the Court of Appeal.

The judge also rejected the allegation that he was biased against Wright, noting that he has never attended a COPA event, as claimed in an affidavit by Gavin Gregory Mehl. He noted that the allegation had no merit, and he could, therefore, preside over the case.

COPA says Wright is not remorseful and asks for maximum punishment

Meanwhile, the judge has now sentenced Wright to one-year imprisonment, suspended for two years. According to Mellor, this reflects the seriousness of the contempt charges and serves to punish and deter Wright, who is currently in an unknown location in Asia.

While the sentence represents a major win for Bitcoin developers, it falls short of the COPA request for two years imprisonment, which the non-profit claims fit Wright’s new action and his lack of remorse. In the UK, the maximum penalty for contempt of Court is two years, and court filings show that COPA has structured its request to get this judgment.

COPA court filing stated:

“COPA proposes an order committing Dr Wright for an initial term of 18 months and a further term of six months in the event that he does not mitigate his contempt by promptly discontinuing the claims which breach the order.”

Jonathan Hough KC, who represented the non-profit, also explained the rationale for asking for the maximum penalty, noting that Wright has repeatedly breached the court order and showed no remorse.

He said:

“Dr Wright’s original campaign of litigation caused serious distress and hardship to those he targeted and had chilling effects on cryptocurrency development. Dr Wright is now repeating his offence.”

Hough added that the new claim would only cause more distress to Bitcoin developers, who must contend with potential litigation from Wright. However, Mellor noted that dismissing the $1 trillion lawsuit would eliminate that distress.

The judge also ordered Wright to bear the legal costs for the COPA contempt application and pay 145,000 pounds to COPA within the next 14 days.

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