EXCLUSIVE: Justin Bieber ex 'hacked for sex images by British teen from his bedroom,' court hears

A SIXTEEN-year-old boy was a founder member of an online hacking group that targeted internet celebrities including hacking sexual images of an ex of Justin Bieber's from his London bedroom, a court heard.

Luqman Gouled, now 22, is accused of being a key member of "The Chuckling Squad" online organised crime group which allegedly hacked the influencers through "SIM swapping" by duping Telecoms service providers to hand over control of their accounts, Wood Green Crown Court heard.

Opening the case for the prosecution on Tuesday, October 7 2025, Sarah Gaunt said: "The case involves Canadian and American internet-based celebrities who had their computers hacked and their accounts compromised. It is the prosecution’s case that the serious organised crime group, 'The Chuckling Squad' were behind at least some of the internet attacks.

"The compromise of the celebrities' accounts was achieved by a process of 'SIM swapping,' which occurs when cyber criminals take advantage of weaknesses in the Telecoms service provider system by contacting employees within the Telecoms company and duping them into providing the employee’s details into a fake website, the cyber criminals can then obtain and use these details to take control of the celebrity’s internet accounts."

She said the North American based celebrities involved included model and DJ Chantel Jeffries (pictured top-left and with pop idol Justin Bieber top-right), reportedly a former ex of Bieber's.

She was pictured with him when he was arrested for driving under the influence in Miami in 2014, when they denied they were an item, and briefly rekindled a romance in 2016, according to celebrity reports.

Former Playboy US model, Amanda Cerny, (pictured above) who has about 50 million followers across Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and X, and Sean Close (pictured below), a Canadian gamer known as “Ghost Sean”, were also targeted, between October 13 and 16 2019, when Gouled was still 16, it is alleged.

Ms Gaunt said: "In respect of the last of these celebrities, Chantel Jeffries, sexual private photographs were stolen during the attack and later distributed, the prosecution’s case is with the intention of causing her distress."

Telecoms companies involved were AT&amp T and Bell Canada.

SIM swapping happens when cyber criminals obtain personal information and identify the mobile phone service provider of the victim. They create a fake website resembling the technical support service of the provider before contacting staff there pretending to be from the support team, in a bid to dupe the employee into entering their login details into the fake site.

They then are able to swap the target's SIM for one they control before resetting passwords to the victim's accounts.

Ms Gaunt said: "During the investigation 'scripts', to be read to the Telecom’s companies were disseminated, the prosecution say, by this defendant. It is the prosecution’s case that the defendant was a member of the internet based organised crime group 'The Chuckling Squad' which was behind many of the attacks. Within several chats he claims to be a founding member."

The court heard Gouled was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) at his mother's Enfield flat, where she lived on February 9 2021, when Gouled was 18.

He was found in his dressing gown in the smaller of two bedrooms where a quantity of SIM cards was found on the wardrobe.

Two computers were seized from the desk area and two iPhones were seized from the defendant’s bed.

He provided a password “Luqman123” in respect of a computer and a PIN number, which reflects his date of birth, for the seized iPhones.

The court heard that in interview, he denied the offences, and told the police that, although the devices were his and no one else used them, he said he must have been “doxed” or “swatted”.

This means someone’s personal details such as name, address and email address are stolen and then used to implicate them in criminality, when they are innocent.

Ms Gaunt said: "There is evidence which suggests that the defendant had been previously 'doxed' and 'swatted', however, the prosecution state that for a variety of reasons, the criminality that you are looking at is not as a result of 'doxing' or 'swatting' but due to the actions of the defendant himself."

The seized computers and iPhones were examined. The devices were using various encrypted chats, this included the chats Discord and Telegram as well as others.

"The investigation revealed that the user of the devices, the prosecution’s case is that this is the defendant, was using several monikers within a variety of chats. These monikers were varied and would change. One which was commonly used, amongst many, was 'Aqua', followed by four numbers. There was evidence not only that various relevant incriminating chats were used on and associated with the seized electronic devices but also that the defendant was using the various identifiers or monikers such as 'Aqua' on them.

"The SIM swapping of the three celebrities and the dissemination of the scripts that you were concerned and with is also directly linked to these devices."

Gouled is charged with three counts of causing a computer to perform a function to secure or enable unauthorised access to a program or data, disclosure of private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress, and two counts of making or adapting or supplying and article intended to assist in the commission of a section 1 or 3 Computer Misuse offence.

The trial continues.