By Dr Tristan Jenkinson

Introduction

As mentioned in my last article, regardless of the astonishing statement made in court by Justice Mellor, we have been awaiting the full written judgment. The judgment came out today, a detailed document over 230 pages… and an appendix running to a further 150 pages. Having said at the end of the trial that the arguments “… will require me to prepare a fairly lengthy written judgment”, Justice Mellor was entirely accurate.

Too Long – Didn’t Read

Given the length, many have been happy at the inclusion of a summary, still running to 4 pages. That wasn’t short enough for Jason Deane, who worked through the entire judgment, shortening it to a single Twitter post (https://x.com/JasonADeane/status/1792548276115288155). In his great summary, the lead highlight was:

“Effectively, ALL of COPA’s claims are upheld (for want of a better word). Wright loses on ALL points – and to an astonishing and brutal, degree.”

Rory Cellan-Jones, the former BBC News technology correspondent, who has his own history with Wright, had a fantastic summation, which he shared on Twitter:

“To say that the full judgment in the “Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto” is damning is to fail utterly to do justice to Judge Mellor’s thunderous invective against a serial liar and forger”

One of my personal favourite observations from Justice Mellor:

“Dr Wright presents himself as an extremely clever person. However, in my judgment, he is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is… I am entirely satisfied that Dr Wright lied to the Court extensively and repeatedly.”

A Digital Forensic Focus

One of the areas of this case (and others involving Craig Wright) that has been of particular interest to me has been the digital forensic analysis of falsified documents. In this case, the work of Patrick Madden of Right Click Forensic, has been key in demonstrating the falsification of documents, even during the trial. If you are interested in the

Madden was, as might have been expected, attacked and criticised by Wright’s legal team. One of the issues (they suggested) was that he was assisted by Bird & Bird, with Craig Orr KC suggesting that Bird & Bird had actually drafted the report (see for example the article from Calvin Ayre’s Coingeek). In oral closing, Lord Grabiner KC suggested that Justice Mellor should disregard the evidence from Madden, “because of the serious doubts about his independence”.

Justice Mellor, who demonstrated throughout that he was very technologically minded, highlights the level of expertise in the digital forensic analysis, explaining that:

“… the technology involved in his case is not particularly complex or difficult to understand (compared with some of the Patent cases I have dealt with). Indeed, the more complex areas of technology in this case did not concern Bitcoin or cryptography but the evidence which exposed his forgeries.”

Justice Mellor makes it clear that he found Mr Maddens evidence very helpful. For example “due to my confidence in the reliability of the analysis carried out by Mr Madden…”, and “It was Mr Madden’s exhaustive and detailed unpicking of Dr Wright’s Reliance Documents which gave rise to so many of Dr Wright’s changes in story”.

At 347.5, Justuce Mellor states:

“… Mr Madden’s analysis and COPA’s reasons for alleging forgery identified, in each case, numerous indicators which, when combined, gave rise to a compelling case which Dr Wright was unable to answer. Further, when considered against all the circumstances of this case, the compelling case on each allegation of forgery became unanswerable”

There is large section which discusses the attacks on Madden (from 359). Justice Mellor states “I saw nothing at all wrong in the way his reports were prepared” and concludes:

“…  I reject any suggestion that Mr Madden was an unreliable witness. In my view, he plainly adhered to his duties as an expert witness and I have full confidence in the evidence he gave… I am very grateful to him for all the work he did in this litigation”

With regard to the alleged forgeries that COPA put forward, the appendix to the judgment provides a swift answer:

“To avoid setting out essentially the same conclusions 40 times, I can state at the outset that I find each of the allegations of forgery proved.”

Rory Still Doesn’t Get His Money

The judgment does not contain any orders on relief, but does draw attention to the fact that Wright still owes Rory Cellan-Jones some bitcoin, something that Rory Cellan-Jones highlighted in his Twitter post https://twitter.com/ruskin147/status/1792568689549615299:

“To date, Mr Cellan-Jones has not received his bitcoin back”.

Perhaps this is something that Justice Mellor could find a way to squeeze into a subsequent order.

More to Come

This post only scratches the surface of the judgment, and there is also more to comment on with regard to what happens next. Many expect some sort of criminal sanction. This has not been mentioned by Justice Mellor, though he does state that he agrees that Wright committed a fraud upon the court:

“The basis for Dr Wright’s application to the Court on 1 December 2023 was a lie. I agree that his application was a fraud on the Court and a fraud on COPA and the Developers”

There is also much to be discussed on the impact of Justice Mellor’s findings, and also what steps can be taken to resolve the years of misinformation and “lawfare” from Wright and his supporters. These are topics for another day, but suffice to say there is still plenty to cover, and while I suspect that we have not heard the last of Craig Wright, this is hopefully the first step to his removal from the consciousness of the public.