Motherwell publicans face foreign football satellite charge
Donald Young, of the Woodcutter Bar in Motherwell, and the pub’s licensee John Gorman both denied dishonestly obtaining broadcasts of games by using foreign TV decoders.
The offences are alleged to have been committed during a Liverpool versus Chelsea match on November 7, and an Aston Villa and Arsenal match on November 27.
The case is unaffected by the recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in favour of Karen Murphy, below, as Albania is not part of the EU.
The pair have been set a trial date of 20 February, with an intermediate hearing of 23 January. Young said: “We had been using Sky for a few years and it was charging astronomical prices. Then this company came to us to say they could do it a lot cheaper. It looked fine to us and we told Sky we weren’t renewing.
“We still do not think that we are dishonest — the company we use is serving 300 pubs.”
Meanwhile, some bars are broadcasting games using foreign decoder cards from within the EU, despite the ruling not yet having been ratified by the High Court.
Cafe Sports England, which is joint-owned by Liverpool footballer Jamie Carragher, says on its website: “LIVE @ England: Due to the recent court case win Cafe Sports England will be showing every Liverpool game LIVE!”
