British streaming pirate who made £1million from illegal video sites and blew it on holidays and a £91k Jaguar sports car is jailed for three years
Stephen Woodward, 36, from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, had been distributing copyrighted content through websites such as IPTV Hosting, Helix Hosting and Black and White TV.
IPTV Hosting provided illegal access to more than 4,500 channels including Sky Sports and TNT Sports to end users and resellers for a fee, which Stephen racked up before indulging on designer clothes and jetting across the world.
He also spent his down time driving around in a Jaguar F-Type V8, which is worth £91,000 and boasts a top speed of around 186mph.
However, a major operation into Stephen's activity found subscriptions were paid for via card payments, 13 PayPal accounts owned by him and peer-to-peer payment services such as Circle.
It was then discovered that the 36-year-old would exchange the money into cryptocurrency, convert it back to flat currency before depositing it across 23 bank accounts.
This investigation led to police arresting Stephen and his brother Christopher Woodward, 34, who also received £126,000 from the sales of the illegal streaming sites.
Following an investigation by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, the brothers were sentenced at York Crown Court on July 11.
Stephen was sentenced to three years and one month in prison after he pleaded guilty at the same court on February 21, 2025, to distributing articles infringing copyright and four money laundering offences.
Christopher, also of Thirsk, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and must also complete 240 hours of unpaid work. He pleaded guilty at the same court on the same date to money laundering.
Investigators additionally secured an all-assets restraint order against a total of £1.1 million held by Stephen. A further £144,121 worth of cash seized from Stephen during the investigation was also frozen.
These funds, in addition to jewellery seized by officers from Stephen's address, will now be subject to confiscation proceedings.
Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, of City of London Police, said: 'Illegal streaming weakens the creative industries by diverting money away from legitimate businesses and into the hands of criminals like Stephen Woodward.
'Lost revenue as a result of illegal streaming means fewer jobs and less investment in future opportunities. It's estimated that this criminal activity contributes to over 80,000 job losses each year alone.
'Stephen was brazen in running his illegal steaming websites. Despite being the subject of a criminal investigation, he had clearly not learned his lesson and yet again attempted to gain financially from his illegal activity.
'His sentencing and upcoming confiscation proceedings should send a message that there are significant consequences for criminals who enable illegal access to copyrighted content.'
Stephen was arrested in November 2019. During a search of his home officers seized a computer, a hard drive and nine phones, as well as £4,760 in cash found in a desk drawer in his living room.
Around 100 envelopes, each containing a SIM card with a name written on it, were also seized. Stephen used the SIM cards to help open PayPal and bank accounts using false identities he had bought online.
He was released under investigation while enquiries continued, before PIPCU analysis of his phone uncovered evidence to show that he had been in communication with various companies to assist with the running of IPTV Hosting.
In his messages to Christopher, Stephen said that he was making £100,000 a month through illegal streaming.
In 2020, while the investigation into IPTV Hosting was underway, officers were alerted by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) that Stephen had started running two further illegal streaming websites, Black and White TV and Helix Hosting.
The websites provided illegal access to watch Premier League matches, as well as over 6,500 channels from around the world.
Officers from PIPCU arrested Stephen for the second time and searched his home address in July 2020.
He told officers that 'the cash is in the same place as last time', referring to the desk drawer in his living room, from which around £28,600 in cash was seized, before he was again released under investigation.
In October 2022, Stephen was detained by Border Force officers at Gatwick whilst attempting to board a flight to Vancouver.
Three bundles of cash, worth a total of £10,870, were seized from his luggage.
The cash seized by BTP and Border Force officers was incorporated into PIPCU's investigation.
The three websites run by Stephen are no longer in operation.
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