Birr teen arrested in hacking investigation

A file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions after the arrest and questioning of 19-year-old Donncha O'Cearrbhail from Birr as part of a global investigation relating to computer hacking. Gardaí confirmed a male was arrested on Tuesday in Dublin and questioned at Terenure garda station before being released on Wednesday morning and a file prepared for the DPP. Mr O'Cearrbhail, in his absence, was charged with computer hacking offences at a federal court in New York this week. He is charged with one count of computer hacking conspiracy, which carries a maximum prison sentence of ten years, and a second of intentionally disclosing an unlawfully intercepted wire communication. The New York charges relate to a conference call between FBI officers and other law enforcers from outside the US in January which was allegedly accessed after the personal email accounts of two Garda officers were compromised and later distributed online. The global investigation was instigated by the FBI and the case is being prosecuted by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Four others were charged as part of the investigation, another Irish man, two men from the UK and a US citizen. US court papers detail charges against Donncha O'Cearrbhail.