Licensee escapes Sky football penalty

Edward Geater, of the Bold Privateer pub in Shipley, and pub manager Angela Briscoe were ordered to pay £17,014 in fines and costs on 21 November 2011 for showing Sky Sports with a domestic card.

Geater was also convicted of four additional offences of dishonest reception of a tele-vision transmission at the Branch Hotel in Shipley.

However, having appealed the conviction, Geater and Briscoe escaped unpunished after evidence was provided at Bradford Crown Court that showed they had been using a European decoder card to show football.

Geater said that despite having his conviction overturned, he is not sure whether he’ll continue using his European card to show football at the premises.

Eddy Leviten, head of communications for the Federation Against Copyright Theft, which prosecutes for illegal domestic uses of Sky, said: “This prosecution was for the alleged use of a domestic Sky subscription in a commercial premises. The licensee was acquitted after the prosecution was withdrawn at appeal, following evidence not presented in the trial.

“In terms of pubs using domestic Sky viewing cards, we will continue to protect our members by taking action against those who do not have an appropriate subscription.”