Liverpool and Croatia player Dejan Lovren had social media hacked Published duration 3 July 2018

image copyright Reuters image caption Dejan Lovren has been playing for Croatia at this summer's World Cup

Croatian World Cup footballer Dejan Lovren had his social media accounts hacked by a fan living in the Scottish Borders, a court has heard.

Some of the Liverpool defender's family photos and an image of his identity card were found on the computer of Peter Doswell, 22, of Selkirk.

He admitted committing the offence at his home in April last year.

Doswell was ordered to carry out 225 hours unpaid work and put under supervision for 27 months.

Selkirk Sheriff Court heard how the Liverpool fan had accessed the private contact details of Lovren's Liverpool teammates Adam Lallana and Emre Can.

image copyright PA image caption Team mate Emre Can spoke to his manager after being contacted by Doswell

He had then sent messages on their personal social media accounts and mobile phones asking them questions.

Doswell pleaded guilty to knowingly causing a computer to perform a function with intent to secure unauthorised access to a program or data held on a computer.

His lawyer Mark Harrower described it as an "unusual case" and said his client was "not an experienced hacker."

He suggested a third party was involved given the level of expertise required but that Doswell had gone along with it and had carried out some of the actions himself.

An examination of Doswell's computer by Police Scotland's cyber crime unit found 155 video folders featuring Lovren and his family, eight text documents relating to Lovren's purchase of a property in London and a club letter from Liverpool - information that would not be publicly available.

Doswell's laptop contained details of phishing and software used to hack email accounts.

image copyright Getty Images image caption The court heard the Liverpool fan also contacted England international Adam Lallana

The court heard that it was after he contacted Can that the German had informed team manager Jurgen Klopp and at the same time Lovren realised his Facebook page had been compromised.

Merseyside Police were informed and Police Scotland contacted when all the evidence was traced to Doswell's home in Selkirk.

Mr Harrower admitted his client was guilty of a "huge intrusion" but added that the guilty plea had avoided the need for the Liverpool players to give evidence at a trial.

Sheriff Mark Thorley told Doswell it was a "serious offence".

As an alternative to prison he was placed under supervision with a conduct requirement restricting his use of the internet and ordered to carry out unpaid work as part of a community payback order.

Lovren has played in all four of Croatia's World Cup matches in Russia and is due to line-up against the host nation in the quarter finals this Saturday.