Fresh charges for pair cleared over TV soccer
Two Portsmouth licensees who beat a prosecution for showing foreign satellite football last season have been caught in the act again.
Derek Hopper, of the Royal Exchange, and Karen Murphy of the Red, White & Blue - part of the Pompey Five - were caught again showing matches using foreign satellite channels at the start of this season.
In May, Murphy was acquitted after a judge ruled she did not know what she was doing was illegal. The former Gales' licensee even produced a letter from her brewery advising her to consider installing the satellite system.
After fellow Portsmouth licensee Andrew Cornwall of the Three Marines in Southsea was also cleared, cases were dropped against the rest of the Pompey Five.
This time it will be hard for Hopper and Murphy to use the same defence but Hopper told the MA he felt he was being "victimised" by FA Premier League.
"Why are they continually coming after me and Karen? There are plenty of pubs in Portsmouth which advertise the fact they are showing these games," he said.
Hopper, whose defence in the May trial cost £1,500, said he has still not received payment from the Central Fund and is struggling to afford representation this time. "The FA is playing a game with our lives and our businesses and that is wrong," he said. "The only people who will make money are the solicitors."
Hopper and Murphy are due to appear in court early next year.
Glasgow bars' satellite ruling
A Glasgow court has ordered two more licensees to stop using foreign satellite systems to show Saturday afternoon matches.
The two city centre bars, the Arlington Bar and Europa, were targeted by Scottish Premier League (SPL) lawyers for showing matches during the closed period from 2.45-5.15pm. Glasgow Sheriff Court issued interim interdicts this week.
A similar ruling was made against another Glasgow licensee in August.
An SPL spokesman said: "These rulings help us to protect
the health of domestic football in Scotland. We are pleased other licensees have avoided the risk and expense of legal action by lodging formal undertakings with us acknowledging they are not entitled to and will not use such apparatus to
access SPL programming intended for broadcast overseas."
The SPL said it will continue to monitor pubs and clubs.
