Man guilty of selling dodgy TV boxes giving illegal access to Sky, BT and Virgin

A man has been found guilty of selling unauthorised set top boxes enabling illegal access to TV subscriptions including Sky and Virgin. Michael Hornung, 38, was convicted of selling unauthorised decoders; selling articles for use in fraud and advertising unauthorised decoders for sale.

Hornung, of Hyde , denied the allegations and was facing trial at Minshull Street Crown Court . Jurors were told at the start of the hearing that Hornung was not present and not legally represented and ‘that is his choice’.

Following 26 minutes of deliberations, the jury found him unanimously guilty of the offences. He will be sentenced later next month.

READ MORE: Lying dad murdered his 10-month-old daughter in 'fit of temper' after her crying woke him up

The court previously heard that Hornung ‘created and supplied’ the TV boxes so that his customers could ‘avoid’ having to pay the subscription fee for broadcasting services such as Sky, BT and Virgin. It was said that he operated the business by supplying the equipment so that customers could get access to the Pay TV channels without paying for it, and instead he charged his customers a fee for his service.

Acting on behalf of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (F.A.C.T), prosecutor Ari Alibhai said that broadcasting services, such as Sky, provide a set top box for customers, which includes the box itself, cables and a smart card. He said channels will be ‘scrambled’ unless customers go into a contract with the broadcasters, which will enable them access.

The smart card is then used to access certain channels depending on the type of subscription paid for. “Control words are used as a key and can be used to unscramble certain channels, which can sometimes come up on the