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Former acid house rave promoter, Tony Colston-Hayter, has admitted to stealing £1.3m from Barclays bank. Details here.
Once famously known as Mr Big, Colston-Hayter was the brains behind Sunrise, the promotion company that threw some of the UK's biggest raves during the 'Summer Of Love,' kicking off in August of 1988 with his event Apocalypse Now. Colston-Hayter was also a notorious gambler, calling himself "Britain's second most successful blackjack player, so feared by casinos that he had to visit them in disguise," according to The Guardian. A keen business man, Tony publicised his first few events by inviting the News at Ten down to his parties to film the antics. The exposure alerted the tabloids to the brave new world of acid house, and on October 12, in an apparent attempt to connect with the youth culture of the time, The Sun's Bizarre ran a t-shirt ad, proclaiming, "It's groovy and cool – it's our Acid House T-shirt!" inviting readers to "raise your street cred with Bizarre's guide to acid house lingo." However, just three weeks later, the papers turned on Colston-Hayter and the new acid house movement after the first few ecstasy related deaths.
This week the former rave baron he pleaded guilty to being the mastermind of a gang who sucked £1.3m from Barclays by hacking into bank computers. He stole the bank cards of 24,000 customers as well, which he used to purchase luxury goods at shops like Harrods.
For a more in depth look at the life and times of Colston-Hayter, head to The Guardian.
