A man convicted of selling unlicensed TV decoders has left the country to avoid serving a prison sentence.
Michael Hornung, formerly of Hyde, Greater Manchester was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment for selling and advertising set-top boxes which enabled access to subscription television content without payment being made to the broadcasters.
It follows a 2014 investigation by Greater Manchester Police and the anti-piracy organisation FACT. A test device purchased by investigators found the device was capable of receiving access hundreds of channels from Virgin’s cable subscription service, including Sky Sports and Sky Movies, without any payment being made.
Hornung was arrested in February 2017 and was charged with various offenses including fraud. He later absconded from the UK to Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus but was found guilty in his absence.
The UK doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the territory.
