Illegal streaming gang jailed for selling cut-price Premier League subscriptions

An illegal streaming gang who offered cut-price subscriptions for Premier League matches to more than 50,000 people have been jailed.

The Premier League said five men were convicted of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and contempt of court after generating more than £7 million in five years.

Mark Gould, from London, was reported to have masterminded the operation and was handed an 11-year prison sentence at Chesterfield Crown Court on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old and co-defendants Steven Gordon, Peter Jolley, William Brown and Christopher Felvus offered illegal access to matches from hundreds of channels around the world, as well as tens of thousands of on-demand films and TV shows.

A sixth gang member, Zak Smith, failed to appear at court for sentencing and a warrant has been issued for his arrest, the Premier League said.

The league added that the illegal streaming businesses had 30 employees, with one undercover at a specialist anti-piracy company.

Brown, from Stoke-on-Trent, denied the offences, claiming to have been an undercover informant acting in the interests of law enforcement authorities and broadcasters

But the 33-year-old was unanimously convicted by a jury after a seven-week trial as the Premier League said he used his technical skills to hack legitimate customers’ accounts to access and copy streams – intending for them to take the blame if identified by authorities.

The prosecution was supported by Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s trading standards team and the intellectual property protection organisation Fact.

Premier League general counsel Kevin Plumb said: “Today’s sentencing is the result of a long and complex prosecution of a highly sophisticated operation.

“The sentences handed down, which are the