A man convicted of selling set top boxes giving illegal access to Sky TV, BT Sports and Virgin has fled to northern Cyprus, a court heard. Michael Hornung, 38, of Tameside, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for selling unauthorised decoders, selling articles for use in fraud and advertising unauthorised decoders for sale.
He was found guilty in his absence following a trial at Minshull Street Crown Court last month. He failed to attend a sentencing hearing on Thursday, with the court told he had fled to Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus, a territory with which the UK has no extradition treaty.
Hornung, formerly of Hyde, is estimated to to have sold around 2,700 set top boxes over a three year period between January 2014 and January 2017. The operation is estimated to have made around £350,000, with an estimated loss of around £2m to the media companies.
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Acting on behalf of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (F.A.C.T.), prosecutor Ari Alibhai, said Hornung supplied equipment that allowed customers to access 'premium' subscription TV, including pay-per-view events such as boxing, without paying for it. He ran an account called ‘NoHatsNoTrainers’ which advertised the devices for sale on a website called CS-world.
Mr Alibhai said: "This was a sophisticated and remunerative business supplying customers the means to access TV without paying the broadcasters or others with intellectual property rights to that content."
It was 'very difficult' to calculate exactly how much money Hornug netted through the scam as he didn’t keep any records, Mr Alibhai said, but a year's worth of PayPal transactions indicated an annual turnover of around £125,000. "He was generating very large sums of money," Mr Alibahi said.
Hornung was arrested in February 2017 following a joint investigation between GMP and F.A.C.T. He initially cooperated with the court proceedings, but later failed to attend his trial and was convicted in his absence.
Judge Angela said Hornung had 'deliberately absconded'. "It is not unreasonable to for this court to conclude that was a planned escape," she added.
Sentencing Hornung, formerly of Ravenswood Drive, to four and half years in prison the judge said: "These offences were sophisticated and required a degree of technical proficiency and planning and were conducted over a sustained period of time." A proceeds of crime hearing will take place on August 10.
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