A UK judge has slapped a year-long prison sentence on a teenage computer nerd who targeted an online gambling site with a distributed denial of service (DDOS) attack.

On Friday, Nottingham Crown Court Judge Michael Stokes sentenced 19-year-old Max Whitehouse to 12-months in prison for launching a disruptive online attack against the unnamed betting site and for boasting about the attack via social media.

However, Stokes suspended Whitehouse’s prison sentence based on Stokes’ belief that locking up the teen in the company of hardened criminals would be “highly damaging and retrograde.”

Whitehouse – who reportedly wept as his sentence was read – pled guilty to carrying out an unauthorized and reckless act with the intent to impair computer operations. The site claims to have suffered £18k in damages via its inability to transact with customers while the attack was underway.