Licensee faces £10,000 bill for illegal Sky
Two licensees have been dealt severe punishments for showing Sky without a commercial licence - one hit with a pay-out of £10,000 and another having his licence suspended.
Brian Easton, licensee of the Golden Lion, in St Albans, Hertfordshire, was fined a total of £1,000, ordered to pay £1,000 costs and £8,000 in compensation to Sky after being convicted of two counts of dishonest reception of a television transmission - showing Sky without a commercial contract.
Gordon Leslie Hall, licensee of the Britannia, Oldham, Lancashire, was fined a total of £1,000, ordered to pay £832.73 in costs and had his personal licence suspended for seven days after pleading guilty at Oldham Magistrates Court to two counts of dishonest reception of a television transmission.
Stephen Gerrard, the Federation Against Copyright Theft's (FACT's) prosecuting manager, said, "We will continue to see publicans pay substantial fines if they persist in breaking the law in this way.
"Case after case demonstrates how we are successfully pursuing and prosecuting those licensees who are fraudulently showing Sky programmes in their premises."
A spokesperson for Sky said: "This case demonstrates how seriously the courts take this issue and the penalties for illegally showing Sky programming.
"We remain committed to working with FACT to prosecute licensees who break the law in order to protect the interests of our legitimate customers."
FACT said there have been more than 700 similar prosecutions to date, with a total of 142 prosecutions this football season and more than 100 further cases with court dates scheduled or pending.
