Lurgan man, accused of blackmail and distributing indecent photos of children after communication on Whiz, Snapchat and Instagram, is refused bail

Max Hollingsbee, aged 20, from Orient Circle in Lurgan, appeared via video link from Hydebank Prison before Craigavon Magistrates Court charged with a number of offences including blackmail, possession of an indecent photograph or pseudo photograph of a child, distributing an indecent photograph of pseudo photograph of a child, sexual communication with a child, improper use of public electronic communication and persistent improper use of communications causing anxiety.

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It was claimed Hollingsbee, who was previously a student at Belfast Met, had been coercing children into sending them explicit images.

Hollingsbee, who has been in custody since April 7 last year following a breach of his bail conditions, was requesting bail for a third time.

A PSNI officer, opposing bail, outlined the background to the case before District Judge Francis Rafferty, saying that the PSNI were first contacted about the defendant due to an investigation by Surrey police in October 13, 2022.

Surrey police were investigating a ‘child protection’ complaint regarding a 15-year-old girl who had an online conversation on Whiz, Snapchat and eventually iMessage with someone called Matt, claiming to be 16 and from Scotland.

The officer alleged the defendant created a connection with the girl and asked her to send indecent photos of herself. The officer claimed that Hollingsbee had also created fake social media accounts pretending to be both male and female.

The PSNI officer said they were first notified of an investigation by police in Scotland in March last year following similar allegations and there currently is an investigation across the UK into at least 30 potential victims with between 100 and 200 photographs being analysed for even more potential victims.

The PSNI officer said: “The defendant has been operating a sophisticated scheme which is aided by the use of social media. He connects with young female children between the ages of 14-16 years old by Whiz, Snapchat and Instagram and begins the conversation.

"He uses a number of aliases varying between trying to be a male and a female. Throughout the conversation he flatters and compliments the victims and asks them to send indecent images which the defendant then saves.”

She told the court that some victims are unaware he had their images but reported unusual activity on their account which ‘suggests he hacked into their accounts’.

Once he has the images he adds to his collection and these are advertised online via social media accounts the defendant operates pretending to be a young female child, the officer claimed.

“Messages linked to these accounts show that the defendant is communicating with other users negotiating payment for content and boasting about the large collection of indecent images and videos he has to offer,” said the officer.

“Once payment is received, the defendant provides the user with Dropbox or Megabox. Following this the defendant has then tried to blackmail some of the users. The defendant then informs them they have access to child pornography and threatens if they do not send more money the defendant will report them to police."

Asked by Hollingsbee’s barrister Mr Seamus Lannon the grounds for the objection, the officer said the defendant had previously breached his bail conditions and more victims are being identified in the local area.

“At no stage did we imagine the number of victims we were going to have. There are approximately 100 to 200 other images yet to be identified. The investigation is ongoing,” the officer said.

When questioned by District Judge Rafferty, the officer said a file had been submitted to the PPS with nine victims.

“We have an agreement that we will submit victims as we have the information gathered.”

She added that the investigation is ongoing and the ‘next batch of victims’ are ‘local’. She added that a full file regarding nine victims has been shared with the PPS.

Mr Lannon said Hollingsbee has been in custody since April 7, 2023 and suggested the court could permit him bail, pending the rolling investigation, under strict conditions. District Judge Rafferty said the difficulty was Hollingsbee breaching of bail twice on those conditions.

Mr Lannon said that it was only on Hollingsbee’s arrest on April 7 last year that his parents became aware of the police involvement.

“Now that they are involved they can and will ensure that any conditions imposed by the court will be adhered to strictly. They are honourable people.”

District Judge Rafferty said he had no doubt they are ‘honourable people’.

“However, if what the prosecution tell me is correct, the defendant is a calculating, clever individual who has engaged in a practised and continuous and insidious campaign against his victims.

"The application would be much stronger if this was a situation where he hadn’t been granted bail on previous occasions. But his first breach of bail he had a series of social media apps on his phone and told a lie that they were necessary for his course work. The police were quickly disabused by his course providers of that contention.

"Having been warned in respect of that, to find that he had another device in April 2023 which had access to Instagram and TikTok – a second breach of his conditions – I am afraid that there are no strictures I can put upon him with regard to his behaviour that would give me any confidence his risk of reoffending could be managed. Bail is refused.”

"Given the length of time in custody and the age of the defendant, I think we need to keep a close eye on this,” said District Judge Rafferty, adjourning the case to April 12.