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Search forBristol pubs fined for screening Sky football
Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 08:50
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.”
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