More Game Pirates Jailed

Written by: Etali

Date: 2006-08-23

Two men who made a living from selling pirated games have been sentenced in separate court hearings to substantial terms of imprisonment after Trading Standards officers, local police and APU investigators discovered stashes of illegally copied games at their respective premises.

Nicholas James Hunter, 40, of Brookfield Road, Patchway, Bristol, who pleaded guilty to 17 offences under the Trade Marks Act (1994) at an earlier hearing, was jailed for 18 months at Bristol Crown Court on 16th August.

Hunter, a father of three, had been using state-of-the-art copying equipment to create pirate copies of games when his house was raided by South Gloucestershire Trading Standards, Gloucestershire Police and an APU officer in 2004. Amongst the illicit copies were found 2200 discs (Xbox and PC games), two computers, three duplicating towers, two printers and 500 blank discs which, if sold legitimately, would have fetched an estimated £58,000.

Leslie John Cond, 40, Warstock Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham, was sentenced to three years imprisonment at Birmingham Crown Court for operating a large scale manufacturing business dealing in counterfeit games, DVD’s, CD’s, films and music.

Cond was brought to justice after an investigation and charged with 20 offences contrary to the Trade Marks Act and Video Recordings Act (1984). Cond, who had previous convictions dating back a number of years for similar offences, was apprehended by Birmingham Trading Standards and West Midlands Police on his way back from a computer fair in Bristol when, a short distance from his home, a roadblock was arranged. Searches of his vehicle and his premises revealed the extent of his business with hundreds of orders of blank DVDs and copying equipment prepped for another run of orders.

Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA commented: “It’s clear from the recent successes in bringing to justice those who think they can get away with illegally copying games and profiting from their sale that piracy and counterfeiting doesn’t pay. These two cases only go to prove that through patience and diligence Trading Standards, local police and the anti-piracy investigators are making it harder than ever for criminals to operate.”

Proceeds Of Crime Act (2002) investigations have commenced in both cases.

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