Craig Wright has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence by a UK judge after he was found guilty of criminal contempt of court following accusations from the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA).
Wright was found guilty of criminal contempt of court on five separate grounds and will be arrested and imprisoned if he commits another offense in the UK. He has also been ordered to pay £144,000 ($180,000) to cover COPA’s legal costs.
Wright attended today’s hearing virtually and claimed that he would appeal the verdict.
Today’s decision followed yesterday’s hearing where lawyers representing COPA argued that he had breached his injunctions on multiple occasions after filing a lawsuit against Jack Dorsey’s Square Up and BTC Core.
Read more: Craig Wright skips UK court hearing, COPA wants him in prison
Wright also failed to attend yesterday’s hearing in person, despite orders from Judge Mr. Justice Mellor, potentially committing another act of contempt of court.
Mellor said today that Wright relied on “promissory estoppel,” to avoid attendance and that he found “each ground for contempt proved beyond all reasonable doubt.”
The judge concluded that, “[Wright] has expressed no remorse today,” and that “promissory estoppel is legal nonsense.” In his decision, he also struck out Wright’s new claim.
Describing the scale of Wright’s legal misdeeds, COPA’s legal representative, Jonathan Hough, claimed “Wright has found himself in contempt of court in three continents over two decades.” The hearing was again shared live by BitMEX Research, patent attorney David Pearce, and Bitnorbert.
Read more: Craig Wright COPA appeal rejected by UK court as meritless
Earlier this year, Wright was referred to the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over his potential perjury. At the time, the UK courts struggled to identify where he’d gone after leaving the UK.
When the judge asked what country Wright is currently in, he replied “Asia” — a continent. Mellor then noted that Wright “can avoid the consequences by continuing to base himself in Thailand.” He added, “Wright appears to be well aware of countries without extradition arrangements.”
Hours before yesterday’s hearing, Wright claimed that he couldn’t attend as he couldn’t afford the means to travel. COPA offered to cover these costs but Wright said that it would cost £240,000, including the losses to his business.
Throughout the case, Wright has chosen to represent himself. He has previously been caught citing non-existent legal cases through his use of ChatGPT.
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Source: https://protos.com/craig-wright-gets-2-year-suspended-sentence-in-copa-contempt-case/