"A computer contractor"...
Never mind the third party bit in the article, it begins with "A computer contractor" and in the second section he is again referred to as a contractor.
That a contractor needs a third party nowadays, is kinda clear, I would assume.
Having established that this guy is, what you would call, a freelancer, he would *know* (at the *start* of his contract) that it *will* end one day. He may not agree that it will end, but it will. All contracts end. That's a given. If you cannot deal with that and subsequently have bad feelings towards your client, you are, by all means, not fit for the IT contracting world.
Thusly, this crime should be punishable by jail time, the longer the better, and the guy should be stopped from ever entering a computer-related profession again (much like lawyers getting dis-barred; or paedophilic teachers being registered), even if that profession were to clean office buildings (which is computer related, as on every desk, there is a computer)...
Oh, that shuts him out of the professional work force? Too bad!
No Sir, there is no public financial support for you: 1) You were a contractor, and as such you earned shitloads of money and 2) You are untrustworthy, proven beyond reasonable doubt and 3) you committed a serious offense against *the profession* you once represented.
You do bad things, you should get punished *harshly*...