A Hampshire licensee has become the first to be stripped of his personal licence for showing football using a Sky domestic card.
In a landmark case, a judge used his powers under the Licensing Act to order the personal licence of former licensee Brett Roberts to be forfeited.
Roberts, formerly of the India Arms in Southsea, was found guilty of showing Sky football without a commercial contract - a breach of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act - when he appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on 17 May.
Roberts was given a conditional discharge for two years.This landmark case should warn any licensees illegally showing programmes via the Sky satellite system that they can face losing their licence and their livelihood.A Sky Spokesperson
In addition, his personal licence was forfeited under section 129 and schedule 4 paragraph 13 of the Licensing Act for showing Sky in the premises on a domestic card.
Stephen Gerrard, prosecuting manager for the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), said: "This landmark case should warn any licensees illegally showing programmes via the Sky satellite system that they can face losing their licence and their livelihood."
A spokesperson for Sky said: "This result follows on from a number of recent successful prosecutions and demonstrates how seriously the courts take this issue. We remain committed to protecting the interests of our legitimate pub customers by undertaking a number of activities that ultimately can lead to prosecution of premises who choose to enjoy the benefits of Sky without the proper commercial contract.
"Our investigators visit licensed premises continually and we fully support FACT's efforts to prosecute licensees who break the law."