I did use a question mark, applying to both words - the article I cited doesn't say what encryption system he was using - if it was the best easily available I inferred PGP, and whatever it was it may not have been broken, but the length of time taken suggests it was.
Clearly the British police would have access to GCHQ / NSA and their Crays. It struck me that nine months sounded about the right length of time for a sophisticated attack. A passphrase guessing attack surely wouldn't take that long?