Licensee hit with £7,600 fine for showing Sky Sports illegally

Paul Gonslaves, of the Crowe Bar in Tottenham, London, was found guilty in his absence at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on 31 July, of three counts of dishonest reception of a television transmission without a commercial viewing agreement with the intent to avoid payment of the applicable charge.

He was ordered to pay £7,633 in fines and costs following the successful prosecution by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT).

Stephen Gerrard, prosecuting manager for FACT, said: “Our aim is to help create an effective deterrent to publicans who endeavor to fraudulently show Sky content in their premises. People found to be showing Sky in commercial premises without having entered into the correct commercial subscription agreement with Sky face criminal prosecution, costs and potential loss of their licence.”

Alison Dolan, deputy managing director at Sky Business, said: “Sky takes illegal use of its programming very seriously and we will continue to support FACT in prosecuting licensees who break the law to help protect the thousands of hardworking licensees who invest in Sky Sports to build their businesses and entertain their customers. The only legal way to show Sky Sports programming in mainland UK is through a commercial viewing agreement from Sky Business - no other way is legal.”

There have been more than 1,500 similar prosecutions to date and hundreds of further cases are in the pipeline.