HACKER Shane Duffy has been sentenced to 2.5 years in jail but will be released on parole today.

The 23-year-old’s family sobbed in the public gallery as the sentence was handed down by Judge Tony Moynihan.

EARLIER: A reclusive hacker from Kingaroy who didn’t finish high school managed to scam users of the world’s biggest computer game out of more than $30,000, a court has been told.

Shane Stephen Duffy, 23, pleaded guilty to nine charges in the Brisbane District Court today including fraud and hacking.

His sentence will be handed down this afternoon.

Prosecutor Joshua Hanna said Duffy had a copy of the personal data of millions of League of Legends users in 2013 and sold access to some of their accounts, making about $32,000 in the process.

He said there was no evidence he hacked the database himself, but he had a copy.

media_camera Shane Duffy outside his home in 2014. Picture: Glenn Barnes

Later, Duffy and an associate used the information to launch “attacks” against other players to advance themselves in the game and make more money.

It cost the owner company, Riot Games, hundreds of thousands of dollars in security upgrades and loss of goodwill to businesses – although the exact figure is commercial in confidence.

Duffy was caught when the FBI and Australian authorities traced the hackings to him.

Defence barrister Patrick Wilson said Duffy had Autism Spectrum Disorder and was homeschooled for a time, but it didn’t work out and he did not receive a full education.

But he conceded he has “some talents”.

Mr Wilson said Duffy was a recluse “restricted to his bedroom for a number of years” and “would go months without leaving the house”.

He said Duffy befriended a hacker on the internet who encouraged him in the offending, but he doesn’t know who he really is or where he lives.

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game and has been named the most played on the internet with 67 million users each month.