An alleged "master pirate" said to have cost Sky TV millions of pounds by cracking smartcard codes and selling cheaper versions to the satellite operator's customers made a strong plea of innocence yesterday. Former Radio Nova boss Mr Chris Cary (51), described as "Europe's leading smartcard pirate", was due to be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court in Surrey.
But when he appeared before Judge Richard Haworth yesterday he announced his intention to change his plea to not guilty and asked for a new defence team.
Asked on what basis he wanted to change his plea, he replied: "I am not guilty. I went along with it in a confused state because it seemed to make people happy.
"It was a ridiculous thing to do and I knew it was stupid even then. I regret how totally wrong it was. I really am innocent - I wouldn't do it otherwise."
He said he had brought up his family to be truthful and could not bear the thought of them knowing he had been wrongfully convicted.
The case was adjourned until Monday next and Mr Cary was remanded in custody.
Mr Cary, charged under his full name of Harold Christopher Cary, of Weybridge, Surrey, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud BSkyB between January 1st 1995 and September 1st 1996 with his ex-wife Remi, also known as Rita, and another man.
Two other similar charges of conspiracy between 1993 and 1996, which he denied, were left on file. The same three charges against his co-defendants, his partner, Ms Sybil Fennell (37) and Mr Richard Jones (49) described as Mr Cary's general manager, were also left on file.
Mr Timothy Langdale QC, prosecuting on behalf of the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), said Mr Cary's operation moved from Camberley, Surrey, to a shop in Dun Laoghaire after two other companies were closed by "perpetual" High Court civil injunctions taken out by Sky.
To beat imitators, Sky had spent more than £30 million bringing out a succession of smartcards. When "pirates" cracked one code, a more sophisticated card had to be developed.
Mr Langdale said: Mr Cary was the "mastermind and operator", Ms Fennell "ran the show" in Dublin and Mr Jones bought components for the manufacture of the cards under an alias and had sent genuine Sky cards to be cracked by a company in Canada.
"Between January 1995 until summer 1996, Cary was by far and away the leading manufacturer and seller of pirate Sky cards in terms of their commercial exploitation. There were other pirates on the continent of Europe as well."
Mr Langdale could not say how much Sky had lost from customers buying pirate cards - "but the loss to Sky is £30 million-plus in costs incurred changing the systems of what Cary and those pirates had done."
Mr Cary's Megatek company in Dublin took £20,000 a day until he and his "accomplices" were arrested in June 1996 through the efforts of a FACT investigator working under cover. Seized documents revealed £850,000 in Megatek accounts.