£1m Premier League illegal TV claim
PAIR DENY PLOT TO HELP PUBS SCREEN MATCHES
TWO men have appeared in court accused of an alleged £1m plot to supply “devices and services” to facilitate the illegal viewing of Premier League football matches.
Jason Graham and John Dodds deny conspiring to defraud broadcasters of pay TV services, the FA Premier League and others over a seven year period.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the alleged fraud is said to have involved more than £1m being “banked by these defendants”.
Full details were not revealed but Graham and Dodds are accused of providing access to paid-for services to commercial premises including pubs.
Graham and Dodds pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to defraud between April 15 2009 and June 24 2016.
Graham further denied doing acts intending to pervert the course of justice by allegedly misleading police and destroying evidence.
A third person in the dock, Victoria Dodds, pleaded not guilty to money laundering £197,000 between April 15 2009 and June 24, 2016. All three will stand trial next year and were further released on bail. Ari Alibhai, prosecuting on behalf of the FA Premier League, said the two men are accused over the “provision via two means of illicitly obtained broadcasts of football subscription content” in relation to commercial premises such as pubs. He said the FA Premier League own the copyright and licences it to the likes of Sky TV, BT and Virgin Media. Graham, 44, of Front Street, East Boldon, South Tyneside, John Dodds, 64, of Stainton Road, Seamer, North Yorkshire, and Victoria Dodds, 34, of The Covert, Coulby Newham, Middlebrough, will stand trial in a case expected to last five weeks next February.
The full conspiracy to defraud charge faced by the two men alleges they “conspired together and with persons unknown to defraud broadcasters of pay TV services, the FA Premier League and such other persons as have an interest in the content of pay TV by supplying devices and services that facilitated the viewing of pay TV without appropriate payment to said broadcasters.”
Further releasing the trio on bail, Judge Edward Bindloss told them: “You have all pleaded not guilty and the next stage is the trial.”
The Premier League own the copyright to matches and licence it to the likes of Sky TV, BT and Virgin Media.