Courts

‘Dodgy box’ service is still operating, court told as sentencing of man is deferred

Request for bail to deal with continuing operation of the illegal service denied by judge

Ciaran Donovan (41), a married father of two from Ashfield, Kildare, pleaded guilty last July to money laundering arising from sales of an illegal streaming service. Photograph: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Colm Keena
Fri May 10 2024 - 13:32

An illegal “dodgy box” operation that has resulted in substantial commercial losses to Sky Sports, BT Sports and other subscription TV services is still in operation, a court in Naas, Co Kildare, heard on Friday.

The continuing operation of the illegal service was brought to the attention of Judge Martina Baxter in the Circuit Criminal Court by Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing, for the prosecution, when he requested that the sentencing of a man involved in the sale of the illegal service be deferred.

Ciaran Donovan (41), a married father of two from Ashfield, Kildare, pleaded guilty last July to money laundering arising from his selling of an app linked to the King Kong Media illegal streaming service between January 2016 and March 2022 and is in custody awaiting sentence.

However, he is facing further charges in relation to the same operation and Mr Ó Dúnlaing said it would be preferable if the court could defer sentencing until this matter was dealt with also. It was expected a plea would be entered later this month, he said.

READ MORE

Desmond Hayes, barrister for Donovan, said his client wanted the sentencing to go ahead but Judge Baxter did not accede to the request.

Mr Hayes also suggested that his client be released on bail to deal with the issue of the service still being available but Mr Ó Dúnlaing suggested that instead Donovan’s counsel could come to him on behalf of his client with a plan about how the continuing operation of the illegal service might be dealt with.

The judge said she would put back the issue of sentencing until the new charges had been dealt with. She said the issue of “material assistance” would be one of the factors she would be taking into account when deciding on sentence.

The court has heard that bank accounts linked to Donovan’s operation saw a total of €470,511 pass through them. The loss to Sky from the customers involved was estimated at more than €2 million. BT had also investigated the Donovan operation, the court has heard.

Donovan was operating an app in this jurisdiction that provided access to an international illegal service organised by others, most likely in the UK, whom he paid, the court has heard.

Colm Keena

Colm Keena

Colm Keena is an Irish Times journalist. He was previously legal-affairs correspondent and public-affairs correspondent

LATEST STORIES