Liverpool man jailed over illegal football streams on Amazon Fire Sticks

Jonathan Edge, 29, advertised the illegal streams on Facebook

Author: Liam ArrowsmithPublished 13th Nov 2024

A man from Liverpool has been jailed for more than three years after uploading illegal streams of football matches to Amazon Fire Sticks.

Jonathan Edge, 29, advertised his services on Facebook for cash-in-hand payments, and used word-of-mouth to run his operation.

He pleaded guilty to three offences under the Fraud Act, and was sentenced to a total of three years and four months in prison.

The prosecution was undertaken by the Premier League and supported by several other organisations, including Merseyside Police and FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft).

The judge said Edge ignored multiple warnings about illegal activity, which was treated as an aggravating factor for the sentence.

Kevin Plumb, Premier League general counsel, said: "The significant sentence handed down to the individual involved once again serves to highlight the severity of his actions.

"We will continue to pursue legal action against those supplying unauthorised access to Premier League football, regardless of the scale or mode of operation.

"Ignoring warnings to stop only served to make the consequences worse for the individual."

Detective Sergeant Steve Frame from Merseyside Police said: "Merseyside Police is committed to working in collaboration to investigate intellectual property theft and we welcome today's sentence handed to Edge.

"Many people see no harm in illegally streaming TV services but they are wrong, and this outcome should serve as a further warning how seriously such copyright theft continues to be taken."

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