Pair jailed for CD fraud

The pirate compact discs sold for £10 each

A mother and her son have been jailed for a year each for making and selling pirate compact discs.

The police have described the operation as one of the most blatant and sophisticated frauds uncovered in the past 20 years.

The pair earned them a clear profit of £2,500 a month from the illegal piracy.

When trading standards officers raided the home of Christine Chidlow and her son John in Sutton Hill district of Telford, Shropshire, they found rooms full of copying equipment.

The judge called the pair "cheats"

They admitted at Shrewsbury Crown Court seven charges of infringing copyright laws and trademark and trade description laws.

Police found more than 3,000 compact discs at the residence, including copies of work by Queen, The Beatles, Oasis, The Rolling Stones and Pet Shop Boys.

Big profits

The compact discs contained MP3 versions of dozens of albums and cost about £1 each to produce.

The pair sold the compact discs at computer fairs for as much as £10 each.

The Chidlows made a profit of £2,500 a month for a year and a half.

Compressing as many as 12 albums on a compact disc is a concern to the musical industry.

It has overtaken the traditional piracy of a single album onto a compact discs or audio tape.

The judge said the two were "cheats" who were depriving original artists of their rewards.