More life has it leaked
He said his client never thought it would go any further. Mr O'Higgins said his client gave an explanation to the Probation Service that a few days after he had taken the photos, his client had a few drinks and then sent the pictures to two other electricians he knew. He agreed it is not anticipated that Shannon will appear before the circuit court again. The detective sergeant agreed with counsel that his client “neither foresaw nor intended” the consequences that unfolded. Shannon's phone was analysed in non-user accessible areas and gardaí were able to find the thumbnails of two of the pictures in a place where it would be expected to find them if the photos had been taken by the phone.ĭet Sgt Kavanagh agreed with Michael O'Higgins SC, defending, that this was the first criminal breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 to be prosecuted on indictment. File creation dates for the pictures were found on his partner's phone, but it was not possible to say when she had received them. Gardaí obtained a search warrant for his home and seized a number of electronic devices, including the mobile phones of Shannon and his partner. Shannon was identified as a suspect as he had been contracted as an electrician to check the emergency lighting in this garda station on March 13, 2019. Gardaí identified the pictures as having been taken in Kilmainham Garda Station. The court heard that these pictures contained the personal information of 108 people.ĭet Sgt Kavanagh said the pictures were captioned with a phrase like “never let an electrician into a garda station”. The judge took into account mitigating factors including his early guilty plea, his personal circumstances, his regret for his actions and that he has been assessed as at low risk of reoffending.Įnter email address This field is required Sign Up This field is required She set a headline sentence of three years, noting his actions were foolhardy and reckless in the extreme. She said the exceptional body of mitigating material, notwithstanding the serious nature of the offending, tilted the balance in favour of a non custodial sentence. She said he had shown fortitude and resilience. Judge Greally noted Shannon had a difficult early life and the fact that he has managed to construct for himself a pro-social life with stable accommodation, as well as a good family and work life was very much to his credit. She said the potential for the information to fall into the wrong hands was extremely large. She said while all data breeches were serious the fact that this was information emanating from a garda station was an added level of seriousness. Judge Melanie Greally said there was no doubt that Shannon did not engage in this offence with any degree of premeditation, planning or malice and the onward transmission of the pictures appears to have been done in a state of intoxication. He has four previous convictions, including convictions for theft and a public order offence. Shannon of Barnamore Park, Finglas, pleaded guilty to disclosing personal data, namely garda intelligence bulletins, without prior authorisation of the data holder. He later sent them to two other people and the pictures were eventually circulated on social media.ĭublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that this was the first criminal breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 to be prosecuted on indictment. Noel Shannon (40) took photographs of a garda intelligence board containing information about ongoing investigations. An electrician who leaked pictures of Garda intelligence containing the personal information of 108 people has been given a suspended sentence.