Horsferry Road Magistrates Court has heard the first day of evidence against the East London man accused of hacking into a donations site for the tsunami appeal last December.

Daniel James Cuthbert, 28, of Whitechapel, London, is accused of breaches of Section One of the Computer Misuse Act, 1990, on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, 2004. He had earlier pleaded not guilty.

Cuthbert is accused of attempting a directory traversal attack on the donate.bt.com site which handles credit card payments on behalf of the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Giving evidence on his own behalf, Cuthbert, at times near tears, said he had made a £30 donation to the site, after clicking on a banner advert. Because he received no final thank-you or confirmation page he became concerned it may have been a phishing site, so he carried out two tests to check the security of the site.

The case continues tomorrow. ®