<p>A Galway criminal who was the first to be charged under Ireland’s gangland legislation has made history again after he pleaded guilty to a string of offences in the north where he was nabbed by his Encrochat phone.</p><br><p>Notorious crook Michael O’Loughlin was one of a huge number of suspected criminals lifted after cops hacked the encrypted phone network in 2020 which was being used to send messages between gangs.</p><p>It is expected he would go to trial and that his case would be the first to test the legality of the process before a Northern Irish court. However, he pleaded guilty to more than 40 offences including conspiracy to murder and import heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis and was handed down a 12 year sentence.</p><br><p>Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about O’Loughlin and his run of bad luck with the law.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

Crime World

Sunday World

Episode 548: Michael O'Loughlin - Northern Ireland's first successful Encrochat case

APR 22, 202427 MIN
Crime World

Episode 548: Michael O'Loughlin - Northern Ireland's first successful Encrochat case

APR 22, 202427 MIN

Description

<p>A Galway criminal who was the first to be charged under Ireland’s gangland legislation has made history again after he pleaded guilty to a string of offences in the north where he was nabbed by his Encrochat phone.</p><br><p>Notorious crook Michael O’Loughlin was one of a huge number of suspected criminals lifted after cops hacked the encrypted phone network in 2020 which was being used to send messages between gangs.</p><p>It is expected he would go to trial and that his case would be the first to test the legality of the process before a Northern Irish court. However, he pleaded guilty to more than 40 offences including conspiracy to murder and import heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis and was handed down a 12 year sentence.</p><br><p>Nicola speaks to Niall Donald about O’Loughlin and his run of bad luck with the law.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>