A WORDSLEY landlord has been hit with a court bill of nearly £6,000 after screening football matches illegally.

Christopher Miller, of The Ashwood Inn, off Bells Lane, pleaded guilty to dishonestly receiving Sky televised football matches with the intent of to avoid payment on January 2 and February 13.

The 58-year-old was fined £2,970 and ordered to pay a £190 surcharge to fund victim services plus costs of £2,833 when sentenced at Dudley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (May 18).

FACT, which works to protect the content and interests of the film and TV industries, brought the criminal prosecution against the licensee for showing Sky Sports to customers without having valid commercial viewing agreements in place.

Sky Sports is only available to licensed premises in the UK via a commercial viewing agreement from Sky Business and licensees who show Sky broadcasts without the appropriate agreement risk similar action or a criminal prosecution, the organisation warned.

Kieron Sharp, FACT chief executive, said “Our aim is to help create an effective deterrent to publicans who endeavour to fraudulently show Sky content on their premises and FACT will continue to protect the intellectual property rights of its clients by pursuing those who continue to break the law."

Sara Stewart, compliance manager at Sky, added: “Now more than ever it’s important to protect the investment of our customers. Businesses that show Sky Sports illegally can leave our legitimate Sky subscribers feeling short-changed.

“We actively visit thousands of pubs every season to monitor the games they are showing and continue to support FACT’s work to protect hardworking Sky customers who are unfairly losing business due to this illegal activity.

“Venues who continue to televise content in this way are breaking the law, and are at risk of being caught, which can result in licensees being fined and having to pay legal costs, and/or losing their personal licence.”