Four Bristol pubs have been ordered to pay a total of almost

£20,000 for illegally screening live football matches.

Licensees were caught out after they showed Sky games in

their premises without paying the commercial fee, which costs

around £700 a month.

Instead, the pubs showed matches after taking out a domestic

subscription, which costs about £50 a month.

One landlord caught breaking the law, Kieran Ward, who runs

the Foresters Arms in Ashley Down Road, said the cost of

showing Sky programmes in his pub was too expensive.

Mr Ward pleaded guilty to four offences and was ordered to

pay £2,846 in fines and costs.

Each of the pubs were brought to book after representatives

from Sky made unannounced visits to check if its programmes

were being broadcast without a commercial licence.

Alexandros Tryfonon and Kashif Rehman of Versa, in Queens

Road, Clifton, were found guilty in their absence of two

offences and were ordered to pay £7,214 in fines and costs

between them.

Susan Coombes and Alan Davis, of The Princess of Wales, in

Westbourne Grove, Bedminster, also pleaded guilty to two

offences and were ordered to pay fines and costs totalling

£4,775 between them.

Andrew Calvey of Clifton Sports Bar, in Gordon Road,

Clifton, was found guilty in his absence of two offences and

faces fines and costs totalling £4,578.

The fines for the offence of dishonest reception of a

television transmission were handed down by Bristol

Magistrates.

Publicans are charged for their Sky subscriptions depending

on each business's rateable value, a tax on the premises

similar to council tax on residential properties.

An average Band H business can expect to pay £700-a-month

for a licence to show sports on Sky.

Mr Ward said he thought his punishment was over-the-top.

He said: “The cost of the subscription doesn't matter if the

pub can hold 20 people or 100 people.

“If I had paid the subscription, I wouldn't have made my

money back in income from customers.

“We cancelled the subscription in November but someone from

Sky came around and noticed we had shown three games.”

Fines handed out to licensees varied depending on how long

they had shown programmes for illegally and how much money they

owed to Sky.

Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) prosecution

manager Stephen Gerrard said: “Our aim is to help create an

effective deterrent to publicans who endeavour to fraudulently

show Sky content on their premises.”

A Sky spokesman said: “Sky's ongoing support for FACT in

prosecuting licensees who break the law demonstrates our

commitment to protecting the interests of our legitimate

subscribers.”