A South Tyneside man has been sentenced to 21 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after admitting selling illegal satellite TV boxes.
Christopher Moore, 44, of Strathmore Gardens in South Shields, pleaded guilty to a charge of facilitating access to copyright, subscription-only content, particularly Premier League football. This is in contravention of the Fraud Act 2006.
He also pleaded guilty to transferring the proceeds of his criminal activity – around £61,000 – to his personal bank and PayPal accounts, which is an offence under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
A spokesman for South Tyneside Council, the prosecuting authority, said: “This is not a victimless crime. This kind of case damages a wide range of people including Sky and its employees and law-abiding publicans who may well lose trade from those who would normally go to their local pub to watch a match.
“The severity of this case is reflected in the sentence and I hope this acts as a deterrent to other people who hopefully will see that this type of offence is simply not worth the risk.”
The operation – Operation York – was led by the National Trading Standards Regional Investigations Team (North East).
Lord Toby Harris, Chair, National Trading Standards, said:
“Mr Moore deliberately and knowingly broke the law to make financial gains and, as a result, responsible businesses that operate within the law – including local pubs and employees – lost out. We will continue to clamp down on individuals and organisations that harm legitimate businesses.
“If you suspect a local individual or business is operating illegally you should report them via the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06.”
Notes to Editors
About National Trading Standards
National Trading Standards delivers national and regional consumer protection enforcement. Its Board is made up of senior and experienced heads of local government trading standards from around England and Wales with an independent Chair. Its purpose is to protect consumers and safeguard legitimate businesses by tackling serious national and regional consumer protection issues and organised criminality and by providing a “safety net” to limit unsafe consumer goods entering the UK and protecting food supplies by ensuring the animal feed chain is safe.