Morecambe man one of five jailed as part of TV scam involving Premier League games

Steven Gordon, 46, was one of five individuals behind three pirate streaming organisations, which offered illegal access to watch Premier League matches.

In what is understood to be the world’s largest-ever prosecution of an illegal streaming network, five people were sentenced at Chesterfield Justice Centre after being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and contempt of court.

Trading under the names, Flawless, Shared VPS and Optimal (also known as Cosmic), the fraudulent operations generated in excess of £7million in just five years.

The illegal-streaming businesses involved more than 50,000 customers and resellers, and 30 employees, one of which was positioned undercover at a specialist anti-piracy company.

The organisations offered illegal access to watch Premier League matches, hundreds of channels from around the world and tens of thousands of on-demand films and TV shows.

All but one of the defendants, including Mark Gould, 36, who masterminded the operation and was one of the original co-founders, eventually pleaded guilty to all charges against them.

Gould, who was described by the judge as the driving force of the conspiracy, was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

William Brown, 33, from Stoke-on-Trent, who pleaded not guilty, falsely claimed to have been an undercover informant acting in the interests of law enforcement authorities and broadcasters.

However, he was instead using his expert technical skills to hack legitimate customers’ accounts to access and copy streams and intended for them to take the blame if identified by the authorities.

In February this year, following a seven-week trial, Brown was unanimously found guilty by the jury.

Co-defendants Steven Gordon, Peter Jolley and Christopher Felvus - were also convicted of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and contempt of court.

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

Steven Gordon, 46, from Morecambe was a Flawless co-founder and in April 2018, with the assistance of Peter Jolley, he began and operated Optimal following a money dispute with Gould.

He was jailed for five years nine months after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud.

Jolley, 41, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, was handed a prison sentence of five years and two months for two counts of conspiracy to defraud and one count of money laundering after concealing £500,000 in his parents' bank accounts.

Felvus, from Pontypool, Monmouthshire, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud and was jailed for three years and 11 months.

The investigation and prosecution undertaken by the Premier League was supported by a number of organisations including Hammersmith & Fulham Council’s Trading Standards team and the intellectual property protection organisation, FACT.

Kevin Plumb, Premier League General Counsel, 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 longest sentences ever issued for piracy-related crimes, vindicate the efforts made to bring these individuals to justice and reflect the severity and extent of the crimes."

The Premier League has one of the most comprehensive anti-piracy programmes in the world, working with broadcast partners and authorities to bring down illegal streams and investigate and prosecute suppliers of illegal streaming services.