A PUB landlord was left with a £6,600 legal bill after being caught illegally broadcasting satellite TV soccer matches without a licence.
Gordon Graham, of the Old Duke pub in Briercliffe Road, Burnley, was hauled before Reedley magistates, charged with three offences of dishonest reception of Sky Sports TV transmissions.
He was convicted in his absence by magistrates and fined £3,000 with £3,635 costs, as a result of the prosecution, undertaken by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT).
A FACT spokesman said: “We conducted this prosecution as part of Sky’s ongoing commitment to crack down on a minority of landlords who continue to show Sky in their pubs without the correct viewing contract.”
Last month a Lancashire Telegraph investigation revealed that pubs in East Lancashire are continuing to illegally use transmitters to receive live football games via foreign TV channels, despite a police crackdown two years ago.
Burnley FC’s Paul Fletcher and Blackburn Rovers chairman John Williams united to call for a crackdown on pubs showing live matches on foreign satellite channels.
A spokesman for Burnley FC, where the average gate is 12,365, said: “It is impossible to ascertain how much this may, or may not affect attendances at Turf Moor, but the saturation coverage of live games these days has to be a factor in reducing crowd attendances across the board.”
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