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Computer technician avoids jail for 'reprehensible' dodgy box scheme

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(Pictured: Paul O’Brien. Photo: Collins)

By Jessica Magee and Fiona Ferguson

A computer technician who sold android boxes allowing cheap access to thousands of TV channels has been sentenced to 240 hours of community service.

Paul O’Brien (38) of Raheen Close in Tallaght pleaded guilty to three sample counts of copyright infringements involving the possession and sale of so-called “protection-defeating devices” on dates between June 2016 and December 2017.

Passing sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Martin Nolan said it was “a sneaky type of offence – hard to detect”.

The judge said his first thought had been to imprison O’Brien, describing the offences as “classic white collar criminal behavior” and commented that the only deterrence was a custodial sentence.

He said, however, he had noted what his colleagues had done in similar cases and noted for a first offence in these circumstances, there was normally a non-custodial disposal.

He said that he found what O’Brien had done “reprehensible”, saying it was a well-thought-out scheme to make money and defraud the rightful owners of their property rights, but he was going to stay his hand. He told O’Brien he had been very close to going to prison.

The judge previously referred the case to the probation service to see if O’Brien was suitable for community service, ordering 240 hours of community service in lieu of two years imprisonment.

The court heard today that O’Brien was deemed eligible for community service, and the judge finalised the sentence.

Judge Nolan also previously ordered the forfeiture of €20,410 and the destruction of the equipment seized.

At an earlier sentence hearing, the court heard that O’Brien sold Android boxes to 150 customers and then charged them €12 a month to get activation codes.

The buyers would then use a new code each month to activate access to about 4,000 TV channels.

Garda Brian O’Connor told the court that a company like Sky or Virgin would ordinarily charge viewers anything between €30 to €130 a month to give similar access to TV channels.

The court heard that over €34,000 was frozen in O’Brien’s bank account, of which about 60 per cent came from the illegal sale of these devices.

Gda O’Connor told Simon Matthews BL, prosecuting, that the offence came to light when a Sky investigator made a test purchase of a Merlin TV Android box in October 2017 from a website called IPTV Wizard.

He was sent an activation code which allowed him access to the TV channels and he reported the incident to gardaí.

O’Brien was easily traced through the company registered to the Android box, and gardaí got warrants to search his house and that of his partner in December 2017.

Numerous items were seized from O’Brien’s house, including a black tower PC containing data relating to the activation codes and details about sourcing the boxes.

Mr Matthews said O’Brien had been sourcing the boxes himself from the website alibaba.com and passing them on but that the re-broadcasting was done by other parties.

Other items seized included 100 flyers advertising IPTV Wizard, business cards, remote control and details of O’Brien’s bank account.

O’Brien, who has no previous convictions, was arrested by appointment in September 2018 and made substantial admissions in his third interview with gardaí.

He told gardaí he had been running the IPTV Wizard website from about 2015 or 2016 until his house was raided.

O’Brien said he had about 150 customers who sourced the box and that he was getting €12 for each activation code he sold per month.

Gda O’Connor agreed with Judge Nolan that O’Brien would have been getting about €1,800 a month.

“If the guards hadn’t stopped him, he could have had a living out of this,” said Judge Nolan.

O’Brien told gardaí that about 60 per cent of the €34,017 in his bank account had come from IPTV sales.

Philipp Rahn SC, defending O’Brien, said other monies coming into his client’s account included wages and the proceeds of legitimate sales of items like gaming pads, air mouses and controllers.

Mr Rahn said O’Brien had not come to garda attention since this offence and was unlikely to come before the courts again.

He pointed out that gardaí had found no trappings of wealth in O’Brien’s house and said his client was a computer design technician who had worked hard all his life.

O’Brien set up his own company in 2016, and when this went out of business in 2018, it was “very difficult” for him, counsel said, and he ended up in this “misadventure and criminality”.

“This matter came as a huge shock to him,” said Mr Rahn, presenting a letter from O’Brien’s GP showing that he suffered from anxiety and was attending counselling.

O’ Brien’s partner, who wrote a letter to the court, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2015.

She said O’Brien was a dedicated father to their 14-year-old son and a valuable member of the local community who was “always willing to help people”.

Law graduate who raped woman after consensual sex jailed for four years

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Picture: Criminal Courts of Justice building (Collins)

By Declan Brennan

A Limerick law graduate has been handed a four-year prison sentence for the rape of a woman after they had engaged in consensual sex having met in a pub earlier the same night.

The sentence hearing at the Central Criminal Court heard that Eoin Considine (24) and the complainant had been engaging in consensual sexual intercourse which then became rough. The intercourse continued after the woman had withdrawn consent and begged Considine to stop, the court heard.

Considine of Old Barna Road, Newcastle West, Co Limerick had pleaded not guilty to the rape of the woman at her then residence in the city on August 11, 2019. He was convicted after a trial last January.

The woman, a student nurse, told the trial that she was out drinking in a city centre pub with her friends when she met the defendant. They left together and went to her home where they began having consensual sex.

She said during this he began pulling her hair and banging her head against the headboard of the bed. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and she asked him to stop and he did but then did it again.

The court heard the sexual intercourse continued in a consensual way at this point. The woman testified that after a while Considine became much rougher and “he put his hand around my neck and started to choke me”.

She said at one point she was unable to breathe and she was very frightened and was shaking her head to tell him to stop. She said he moved his hands on to her shoulders and was pinning her down.

The court heard that it was at this point she withdrew her consent and the man continued sexual penetration without consent.

“I started begging him to stop but he didn’t stop having sex with me,” she said. She said this lasted 90 seconds before she was able to move him off by getting her feet up and under him and pushing him away.

Considine apologised to the woman and told her he thought “she liked it” and that he’d had a previous girlfriend “that liked it”. He also told her he couldn’t stop because she was “so good looking”.

The woman was upset and asked Considine to leave. He initially refused and said he wanted to make sure she was okay but she told him she just wanted him to leave and he did, the court heard.

Imposing sentence today, Mr Justice Paul McDermott said rape was a “very serious offence whatever form it takes”. He said rape was a “violation of the victim’s bodily integrity” and a “grossly invasive act of violence”.

The judge noted the prosecution had emphasised that there was “extensive consensual engagement” between the woman and Considine for most of their time together, except for the period of 60 to 90 seconds in question. He said the circumstances of this case are “somewhat unusual,” however consensual sexual engagement beforehand, “does not excuse a failure to stop”.

Mr Justice McDermott set a headline sentence of four and a half years. He noted that Considine accepts the verdict of the jury, but continues to deny rape. Mr Justice McDermott said there was no guilty plea or expressions of remorse which would allow the court to reduce the headline sentence substantially.

He said Considine’s regrets are focused on the impact of this case on his family, but there has been “little or no thought for the victim”.

Mr Justice McDermott handed Considine a prison sentence of four years. He also directed Considine to place himself under the supervision of the Probation Service for 18 months post-release.

In her victim impact report, the woman said that she was left with bruising on her arms and neck and suffered bleeding from her scalp. She said that she lost any sense of safety in her own bedroom and felt safer staying out all night than she did in her own bed.

She said she found it hard to move on from the idea “that my primary worth only goes so far to provide sexual gratification” and as a result she became “hyper-sexual”. She said Considine’s defence used photos from her phone to try to portray her as promiscuous but that these photos were taken after the assault.

She said she experienced suicidal ideation and that during the trial she felt she had been the one on trial. Addressing Considine directly, she stated: “You’ve offered me no explanation, admission or remorse. You took so much from me in just 90 seconds.”

Justice McDermott said that the evidence was that the sexual activity was consensual up to the point at which Considine pinned the woman down by her shoulders.

After the woman identified Considine through Instagram and Facebook, gardaí contacted Considine by phone and he knew why they were calling. He told gardaí: “I got it wrong, it was wrong, is she okay, I took things too far, I need to face up to that.” During the trial he attempted to resile from these admissions, Lisa Dempsey BL, prosecuting, told the court.

Defending counsel Kathleen Leader SC handed over a dozen testimonials into court from local business owners in Co Limerick. She said everyone who knew her client spoke well of him as a hard-working, gentle and inclusive young man who did his best to help people and who contributed to the community.

She said what happened on the night in question was “very much out of character”. Considine has no previous convictions and qualified with a law degree from University College Cork.

A consultant psychiatrist who treated him stated that since the allegations he has suffered with severe depression and significant suicidal behaviour.

Justice McDermott noted that the woman’s victim impact statement outlined the impact of this incident on her life and that it had affected her “sense of security” in her own home and in intimate relationships.

He noted that certain aggravating factors are absent in this case and said this was not a “premediated or predatory offence”.

Justice McDermott noted that Considine was a “very young man” at the time with “considerable prospects notwithstanding his conviction”. He said he took into consideration the mitigation on behalf of Considine including that he is considered to be at low to moderate risk of re-offending.

Mr Justice McDermott also directed the man to have no contact with the victim through any means.