Licensee jailed for contempt of court relating to Sky Sports infringements

Christopher McGregor Clacher, the DPM of the Clachan at the time, was imprisoned as a result of breaching a permanent interdict, granted in August 2016, which prevented him from breaching Sky’s copyright by broadcasting football matches without having the required commercial subscription agreement.

However despite these terms, the premises showed two further Sky football matches in February and April 2017. 

McGregor Clacher did not attend court in August 2018 and was consequently found in contempt.

George Lawson, head of commercial piracy at Sky, said: “This is the first instance in which a breach of interdict and associated contempt of court emanating from the unlawful showing of Sky broadcasts have resulted in a custodial sentence being issued. 

“Mr McGregor Clacher was previously found in contempt of court for a previous breach of interdict in August 2016. On that instance he was issued with a court fine that was not paid in full. As a result, the court considered the only suitable punishment for this contempt, was a custodial sentence. 

“This ruling demonstrates the seriousness of this issue. We are committed to visiting thousands of pubs every season to monitor the games they are showing, as well as investigating suppliers to protect Sky customers who are unfairly losing business due to this illegal activity.”