Norfolk touting firm staff mocked customers buying tickets at inflated prices, jury told
Prosecutors have said that TQ Tickets Ltd was motivated by "greed and dishonesty"
Staff at a touting firm mocked customers after selling them tickets to sold-out events at inflated prices, prosecutors have told a court.
People working at the firm TQ Tickets Ltd referred to one customer as "another idiot" after they bought two tickets for the hit West End production Harry Potter And The Cursed Child for ÂŁ535 each, when the face-value price was around ÂŁ120, Leeds Crown Court heard.
Prosecutors showed jurors a Skype message conversation between Norfolk-based Paul Douglas, who has admitted fraudulent trading, and his wife Lynda Chenery, who is on trial facing the same charge.
After describing the transaction, Douglas says: "Another idiot."
Chenery replies: "Plenty of them, it seems."
Douglas then says: "F*** me. I have rinsed some twat on Via today."
Chenery then replies: "Not unusual though, is it?"
The jury was told that "Via" was a reference to the secondary ticketing platform Viagogo.
"Greed and dishonesty"
Prosecutors have said that TQ Tickets Ltd was motivated by "greed and dishonesty" when it "exploited the love and passion" of music lovers to make more than ÂŁ6.5 million from secondary ticketing sites in two-and-a-half years.
The court was told the firm used multiple identities, some of which were fake, to buy large amounts of tickets for artists such as Ed Sheeran on primary sites including Ticketmaster and re-sell them on platforms such as Viagogo.
Maria Chenery-Woods, who prosecutors said was the "driving force" behind the "dishonest enterprise" and referred to herself as The Ticket Queen, has admitted fraudulent trading along with Douglas, who prosecutors say referred to himself as Ticket Boy.
But their respective spouses - Mark Woods and Chenery - went on trial this week.
Chenery is also Chenery-Woods's sister.
"This was all about milking customers for profit"
Continuing his opening statement to the jury on Thursday, Jonathan Sandiford KC showed the jury messages which he said were examples of the inflated prices the firm charged on secondary platforms.
He said: "This was all about milking customers for profit - ripping them off, in effect."
In one exchange, Douglas tells Chenery he has just sold two tickets to the Last Night Of The Proms at the Albert Hall, in September 2016, for ÂŁ462 each. He then says these are "47 quid tickets".
In another, Douglas discussed selling two tickets to the Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko boxing event at Wembley Stadium in April 2017 for ÂŁ220 each, and saying the face-value price was ÂŁ60.
Mr Sandiford said the firm also engaged in "speculative listing" on secondary platforms, where tickets were sold before they had even been sourced.
Ed Sheeran tickets
He showed the jury details of how dozens of tickets for Sheeran's 2017 stadium tour were sold by TQ aliases on Viagogo on July 8 2017, in the hours before the promoters put them on sale at 10am.
The prosecutor said the firm then used a range of tactics to source the tickets once they became available at 10am.
He said that at one point, Douglas messaged to say he had 38 browsers open at one time, attempting to obtain tickets to the concerts.
Mr Sandiford said Douglas was using the Insomniac web browser, which helps users circumvent attempts by primary sellers to spot multiple applications from the same computer.
He said the browser was used by the firm to make 177 visits to the primary seller's website that morning.
Mr Sandiford said the jury would hear a statement from Sheeran's promoter, Stuart Galbraith, which stated that he had a strict policy on that tour of limiting ticket prices to between ÂŁ50 and ÂŁ80.
The prosecutor said TQ Tickets Ltd sold the dozens of tickets they obtained at prices that averaged more than double the face value.
The jury has heard how the firm had sales in excess of ÂŁ6.5 million on secondary ticket platforms between June 2015 and December 2017.
Mr Sandiford said the firm bought 47,000 tickets during that period, using 127 names, 187 different email addresses and 200 different postal addresses.
Woods, 59, and Chenery, 51, both of Dickleburgh, near Diss, Norfolk, deny three counts of fraudulent trading.
Chenery-Woods, 54, also of Dickleburgh, and Douglas, 56, of Pulham Market, Norfolk, have pleaded guilty to the charges, the jury has been told.
Mr Sandiford said the fact that Chenery-Woods and Douglas had pleaded guilty meant that there was "no dispute that the fraudulent scheme exists".