Man jailed with sex killers for refusing to pay TV licence

A father-of-five has spoken of his fury after he was jailed with sex killers for refusing to pay his TV licence. Sean Browne, 36, said he was treated “like a murderer or a rapist” when he was locked up in Ireland's medium-security Midlands Prison.



Sean was arrested by appointment on Wednesday but had expected to spend no more than a few hours in custody.

But after arriving at the prison – which also houses rapists and violent thugs – he was informed he would be locked up over night.

He said: 

“The hardest part of it was that myself and my partner lost a baby three years ago and we hadn’t spent a night apart since.
“That killed me, and it killed her. Just like that, it was taken away from us. It’s just broken me.
“I was treated the same as a rapist, a murderer, anybody else who was brought in, I was treated the same way.”
 “I was distraught when I got home. I’ve never been in trouble before. I’ve never broken the law, I’ve never committed a serious crime.
“Then on Wednesday I was treated as if I’d just murdered someone. I cannot get it out of my head.
“I know it was only 24 hours, but it was something I’ll never, ever forget.”

Sean revealed how he was forced to strip naked, marched through the prison, and left alone in a holding cell for hours at a time.