Courts / Dublin / Report

Pervert caught with 278k images and 'disturbing' child abuse material appeals sentence

Date
2023-12-05
Stage
Appeal
Primary locality
Dublin
County
Dublin

Summary

In December 2023, a Court of Appeal hearing considered the appeal of Paul Boyle, a 46‑year‑old Scottish man, who had been sentenced to five‑and‑a‑half years' imprisonment for harassment and possession of child pornography. Boyle was caught by an off‑duty Garda on the Luas in December 2019 taking "up‑skirt" photographs of women and schoolgirls. A subsequent search of his Dublin home uncovered 275,800 images of women's groins, thighs and buttocks taken between June 2018 and January 2020, and a 2002 child‑pornography video described as "extremely explicit and disturbing." Boyle pleaded guilty in March 2022 to the harassment and possession charges. Judge Martin Nolan imposed a five‑year term for harassment and a three‑year term for child‑pornography, with the final two‑and‑a‑half years suspended and back‑dated to March 2021.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Pervert caught with 278k images and 'disturbing' child abuse material appeals sentence. Charges or matters: harassment at a location in Dublin city between November and December 2019. Procedural stage: appeal

When:

Case subjects

Paul Boyle

Appellant

Charges: harassment at a location in Dublin city between November and December 2019 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: In July 2022, Judge Martin Nolan sentenced Boyle to five years' imprisonment for the harassment. However, Judge Nolan suspended the final two and a half years of the child pornography sentence and backdated it to when Boyle went into custody in March 2021.

Places mentioned

Secondary Mention
Address Area
  • Blackglen Road
Court Venue
  • Court of Appeal
  • Thursday. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
  • Dublin
Garda Station
  • was brought to Dundrum Garda Station
  • Dundrum

Topics

Stage Appeal

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