diff --git a/api/BusinessLogic/Security/UserContext.php b/api/BusinessLogic/Security/UserContext.php
index 30baf47b..27318d14 100644
--- a/api/BusinessLogic/Security/UserContext.php
+++ b/api/BusinessLogic/Security/UserContext.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class UserContext {
         $userContext = new UserContext();
         $userContext->id = $dataRow['id'];
         $userContext->username = $dataRow['user'];
-        $userContext->admin = $dataRow['isadmin'];
+        $userContext->admin = $dataRow['isadmin'] === '1';
         $userContext->name = $dataRow['name'];
         $userContext->email = $dataRow['email'];
         $userContext->signature = $dataRow['signature'];
diff --git a/api/BusinessLogic/Security/UserContextBuilder.php b/api/BusinessLogic/Security/UserContextBuilder.php
index 064968c2..65c4972e 100644
--- a/api/BusinessLogic/Security/UserContextBuilder.php
+++ b/api/BusinessLogic/Security/UserContextBuilder.php
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class UserContextBuilder {
             throw new InvalidAuthenticationTokenException();
         }
 
-        return $this->fromDataRow($userRow);
+        return UserContext::fromDataRow($userRow);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/api/BusinessLogic/Tickets/Ticket.php b/api/BusinessLogic/Tickets/Ticket.php
index 73442104..2d7ba879 100644
--- a/api/BusinessLogic/Tickets/Ticket.php
+++ b/api/BusinessLogic/Tickets/Ticket.php
@@ -42,6 +42,10 @@ class Ticket {
             $attachments = explode(',', $row['attachments']);
             $attachmentArray = array();
             foreach ($attachments as $attachment) {
+                if (trim($attachment) === '') {
+                    continue;
+                }
+
                 $attachmentRow = explode('#', $attachment);
                 $attachmentModel = new Attachment();
 
diff --git a/api/DataAccess/Files/FileReader.php b/api/DataAccess/Files/FileReader.php
index 296c966d..c4ef2eb0 100644
--- a/api/DataAccess/Files/FileReader.php
+++ b/api/DataAccess/Files/FileReader.php
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 namespace DataAccess\Files;
 
 
+use BusinessLogic\Exceptions\ApiFriendlyException;
+
 class FileReader {
     /**
      * @param $name string - The file name (including extension)
@@ -13,6 +15,11 @@ class FileReader {
     function readFromFile($name, $folder) {
         // __DIR__ === '/{ROOT}/api/DataAccess/Files
         $location = __DIR__ . "/../../../{$folder}/{$name}";
+
+        if (!file_exists($location)) {
+            throw new ApiFriendlyException("The file '{$name}' does not exist on the server", "File Not Found", 404);
+        }
+
         $fileContents = file_get_contents($location);
 
         if ($fileContents === false) {