Former OSRS developer sentenced over £364,829 in-game theft

Andrew Lakeman, known to players as Jed Sanderson or ‘Mod Jed’, pleaded guilty to using his role at Jagex to access customer accounts, remove high-value items and in-game gold, and sell them for cash. He was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on 3 September 2026 to three years in prison, suspended for two years.

Cambridgeshire Police say Lakeman used his position as a content developer to target high-value accounts and transfer virtual items and gold to third parties. Investigators recorded total proceeds of more than £364,829, which they say came from cryptocurrency dealers who bought the stolen game wealth.

Jagex conducted an internal investigation in 2018 after support staff noticed suspicious account recovery activity and the disappearance of valuable items. The company dismissed the employee later that year for ‘gross misuse of moderator privileges’, confirmed it had worked to return items and in-game currency to affected accounts, and said no bank or card details were compromised.

Police took over the investigation in 2019. Searches of devices recovered messages in which Lakeman discussed plans to make money before leaving Jagex and referenced high-value RuneScape accounts worth tens of thousands of pounds. Authorities say he transferred the stolen items to sell on the black market.

At sentencing, the court also ordered Lakeman to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and to complete a 25-day rehabilitation activity requirement. A proceeds of crime timetable set by authorities aims to recover the funds he earned from the thefts, with that process due to conclude in February next year.

Detective Constable Andrew McKeane, who worked on the case, described Lakeman as ‘well aware what he was doing was wrong,’ noting that ‘the hundreds of thousands of pounds he gained from selling the in-game items is no different to any other theft.’ He added that the justice system will need to keep pace with crimes in online worlds.

Authorities treated the matter as a theft of property and pursued criminal charges and a financial recovery process under the Proceeds of Crime Act.