A MAN from Talbot Green has been sentenced for an offence that many people had no idea existed.
Callum Dare, 26, was sentenced for ‘encouraging and assisting swatting’, both internationally and within the UK, and for possessing sophisticated ‘phishing’ software. This follows an extensive investigation by Tarian, the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) for southern Wales, working alongside South Wales Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.
Swatting is the act of making a false report to emergency services to trigger an armed police response to a victim’s address. These malicious reports are often intended to harass, intimidate or cause panic, and the police response is frequently shared online.
In May 2019, South Wales Police and Tarian ROCU were alerted to an FBI investigation involving Dare. Officers from the FBI’s Nashville Field Office had identified a number of incidents of ‘swatting’ across the United States, which were linked to a website operating on the dark web.
Investigators traced a number of these incidents to a dark web platform known as ‘Doxbin’, which was connected to an online chat channel called “#deadnet”. Users of the channel communicated directly with one another and discussed swatting, doxing and other forms of criminal activity.
Doxing is the publication of an individual’s personal information, such as their address or contact details, without their consent. This information is often used to facilitate harassment or swatting attacks.
As enquiries progressed, investigators identified Dare as an administrator of Doxbin. Evidence showed he was an active participant. Messages recovered from the channel showed Dare claiming responsibility for multiple swatting incidents in the United States and Canada.
The investigation further linked Dare to an earlier swatting incident in southern Wales. On 17th December, 2018, a threat was reported to a journalist working for the Western Mail (now Wales Online). The caller falsely claimed to be armed with nail bombs and holding hostages at the Sandringham Hotel in St Marys Street, Cardiff.
The journalist alerted South Wales Police and armed officers were deployed to the scene. As a result, St Marys Street was evacuated and closed, causing significant disruption and public concern during one of the busiest periods of the year.
A forensic examination of Dare’s electronic devices uncovered livestream footage, CCTV recordings, audio files, news reports and other material relating to the hoax incident.
Rather than stand trial, Dare pleaded guilty on 15th June, 2026. At Cardiff Crown Court in July, Dare was sentenced to two years and three months in prison.
A spokesperson for Tarian ROCU said: “The consequences of swatting can be extremely serious. False reports place innocent members of the public at risk, cause significant disruption to communities and divert emergency services away from genuine incidents.”
Special Agent in Charge Terence G Reilly of the FBI Nashville Field Office said: “Swatting is not a victimless prank—it is a reckless and dangerous crime that can have deadly consequences.”
Louisa Robertson of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Callum Dare put people in danger by encouraging the triggering of armed police responses, for his own thrills. When false alarms like this are raised, it is often multiple emergency services that are involved, drawing them away from people who genuinely need them.
“I hope the sentence today deters others from carrying out these criminal acts.”
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