Major counterfeiting scam cracked

A large-scale counterfeit opertion was uncovered

A Cumbrian man has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for his part in a large-scale counterfeiting operation.

Paul Lee, 39, from Corporation Road in Workington, was sentenced in a case brought by trading standards' officers.

Carlisle Crown Court heard they raided his home and seized copying equipment and counterfeit CDs, DVDs and games.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to breach trademark, copyright and video recording laws.

Two other men were sentenced after admitting their part in the operation.

Peter Rumney, from Corporation Road in Workington, was given a 15 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and Anthony Brisco, from Lorton Avenue in Wigton, was given 150 hours community punishment.

Major operation

When police and trading standards' officers raided Lee's home in June 2004 they found six PCs and seven CD-copying towers, almost 4,000 blank CD-R disks, more than 2,000 DVD cases, tens of thousands of CD cases/wallets, hundreds of indelible pens and ink cartridges.

Also found were almost 7,000 disks containing counterfeit music recordings, films and computer games, as well as a quantity of unclassified pornographic titles. Nearly 2,000 MP3 music files were stored on the computers.

Cumbria County Council's trading standards department said it was the biggest investigation into counterfeiting they had carried out.

Michael Rawlinson, deputy director general of the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, said: "This operation was not your so-called back bedroom scam, but a major pirate manufacturing facility. Its potential output was staggering.

"This sentence will act as a deterrent to anyone tempted to become involved in the illegal copying of computer and video games software and highlights the very real threat of criminal prosecution and a criminal record."