The misplaced faith of criminals in the secrecy of the messaging service EncroChat continues to be a feature of cases at Liverpool Crown Court.
Users operated under bizarre codenames and often wrote in slang while relying on the encrypted communications network.
But many undermined their bid for anonymity by posting pictures of themselves, their cars and even their homes.
READ MORE: How the EncroChat hack unfolded after a police breakthrough in a French border city
This week, Jon Hassall became the latest Merseyside drug dealer to be jailed for offences that came to light after an international operation to hack EncroChat in 2020.
Users had believed the secretive, subscription-based programme to be impenetrable - a belief backed up by evidence heard in Liverpool Crown Court in 2018, when a police expert said its creators had “perfected secure private communication”.
Sophisticated security features gave further reassurance to users of the software, which police claim was beloved by the underworld.
Nevertheless, many users stuck to strictly operating under their codenames - known as ‘handles’ - and speaking in slang - as a precaution.
This meant that, when the system was infiltrated by a Franco-Dutch operation in 2020, linking the messages retrieved from each profile’s account to the person using it remained a complex job.
But in some cases, users made themselves incredibly easy to identify.
Among them was Hassall, who used the handle TrustedBat while contacting others via the platform.
The 23-year-old, from Moreton, was caught because he sent a selfie of himself to another EncroChat user.
He was sentenced to seven years in jail on Wednesday after he admitted conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs.
Hassall was not the only one.
David Williams was jailed for 13-and-a-half years for conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.
The 39-year-old, of Limekiln Lane in Vauxhall was asked “who is this?” in one conversation through EncroChat.
In response he wrote “me la” and sent a selfie of himself.
Murderer Michael Hoy - formerly Michael Brown - returned to criminality after being released from a life sentence over the fatal stabbing of an innocent man in Bootle.
He failed to convince a jury he was not the user of the TimelyBeta EncroChat account after a court heard his contacts nicknamed him “life” - an apparent reference to the life term he served - and that, when asked what his real name was, the account’s response referred to Hoy’s former name in a message that simply read: “I’m Mike Brown.”
The 42-year-old, from Garston, received another life sentence for offences linked to guns and grenades last month.
Some of the pictures that have revealed the identities of EncroChat users were useful to detectives because of the sophistication of the technology at their disposal.
Carl Stewart was revealed to be ToffeeForce after he sent a photo of a piece of cheese in the palm of his hand.
Merseyside Police experts were then able to analyse the photo, obtain his fingerprint s and identify him as a result.
Stewart, of Gem Street in Vauxhall, was sentenced to 13 years and six months for a number of drug conspiracies.
Many have since followed in his footsteps through being linked to accounts through fingerprint analysis made possible by photos of their hands - typically while showing off drugs or jewellery.
James Duckworth must have been in no doubt that he would be identified once the hack was revealed, however.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the "attribution evidence" for his AtomicMantis account was "strong" because a password in the phone's notes included the names of Duckworth, his partner and their children.
He owned a white Jaguar XFR Sport, regularly seen parked outside his home, and once stopped by police with his girlfriend at the wheel.
The sender of an EncroChat message on May 13, 2020 stated "tell him to wait and follow white Jaguar" and a photo showed Duckworth in the car.
Six days later, other messages instructed people to collect drugs from his home, with the postcode provided, before Duckworth's EncroChat sent a message saying "white jag on path" and confirmed the address.
Duckworth even sent a photo of home security camera footage, showing his Jaguar parked outside, with his hand holding his phone and jewellery on his wrist clearly visible.
The dad-of-two, from Kirkby, admitted two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs plus conspiracy to convert criminal property and possessing criminal property.
He was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years.
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