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Daily Record
a day ago
- Daily Record
Man illegally streaming Premier League games jailed after making '£100k a month'
Police stormed the home of Stephen Woodward who was part of a service providing illegal access to over 4,500 channels including Sky Sports. A man has been jailed for his role in a £1 million illegal TV streaming operation after police stormed his home. Stephen Woodward sold illegal access to copyrighted material, including Sky Sports and BT Sports, spending the proceeds on holidays, designer clothes, and a £91,000 Jaguar F-Type V8. The 36-year-old used the websites IPTV Hosting, Helix Hosting, and Black and White to provide illegal access to the channels, and would sell subscriptions via card payments, StokeonTrentLive reports. A total of 13 different PayPal accounts owned by Woodward would receive the payment, as well as payment services such as Circle. After receiving the money, he would convert it into Cryptocurrency and then back into regular currency before depositing it in 23 banks accounts. In November 2019, Woodward was arrested and would plead guilty to distributing articles infringing copyright as well as four money laundering offences. He was sentenced to three years and one month in jail. His younger brother Christopher Woodward, 34, received £126,000 as a result of the operation, pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to 15 months in jail suspended for 12 months as well 240 hours of unpaid work. Police investigating the operation also secured an all-assets restraint order over some £1.1 million held by the elder Woodward brother. Some £144,121 worth of cash was also seized from him in the investigation, and this was frozen. The force searched Stephen Woodward's home upon his arrest, seizing a computer, a hard drive, nine phones, and £4,760 in cash which was found in a desk drawer. Officers also seized around 100 envelopes which each contained a SIM card with a name written on it. These SIM cards had been used by the elder Woodward to open PayPal and bank accounts under false identities which he purchased online. Stephen Woodward was released under investigation as police continued their enquiries. Analysis of his phone revealed he had been communicating with a number of companies in order to help run the website IPTV Hosting. And, in messages to Christopher, Stephen Woodward claimed he was making some £100,00 a month through his illegal streaming. Officers were still investigating IPTV Hosting in 2020 when the Federation Against Copyright Theft, FACT, alerted them Stephen Woodward was now running two more illegal streaming sites - Helix Hosting and Black and White TV. These websites would give subscribers illegal access to Premier League games and more than 6,500 channels from around the globe. In July 2020, police once again arrested Stephen Woodward, who told officers "the cash is in the same place as last time" as they searched his address. This time, officers found some £28,600 in cash, and he was again released under investigation. Finally, in October 2022 Border Force officers at Gatwick detained Stephen Woodward as he was trying to board a flight to Vancouver and seized £10,870 in cash from his luggage which was then added into the investigation. All three websites connected with the operation are no longer running. Confiscation proceedings will now begin against both these funds and jewellery which police seized from Stephen Woodward's address. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt 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.'
The Sun
5 days ago
- The Sun
‘Brazen' illegal streaming kingpin who made £1 million from dodgy sites showing Sky Sports and 4,500 channels is jailed
A BRIT who enjoyed a lavish lifestyle running three illegal streaming sites for cheap access to Sky Sports has been jailed for more than three years. Stephen Woodward, 36, splashed out on designer clothes and jewellery, expensive holidays and a Jaguar F-Type V8 coupe worth £91,000 from his ill-gotten gains. 3 3 Messages found on his phone bragged of making £100,000 a month from the operation. Stephen ran three websites with access to Sky Sports and 4,500 other premium channels for a small fee. This included IPTV Hosting, Helix Hosting and Black and White TV, which have all since been closed down. Police believe he pocketed £1million overall. "Stephen was brazen in running his illegal steaming websites," said Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from City of London Police. "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." City of London Police's Intellectual Property Crime Unit secured an all-assets restraint order against a total of £1.1 million held in 15 bank accounts and 21 cryptocurrency wallets owned by Stephen. A further £144,121 worth of cash, which was seized from Stephen during their investigation, was also frozen. These funds, in addition to jewellery seized by officers from Stephen's address, will now be subject to confiscation proceedings. The 36-year-old, from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty at York Crown Court on February 21 to distributing articles infringing copyright and four money laundering offences. He will serve three years and one month behind bars. His brother Christopher Woodward, 34, who pocketed £126,000 from the operation, pleaded guilty to money laundering. He was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and must also complete 240 hours of unpaid work. Officers first arrested Stephen back in November 2019 and searched his home address, where they seized almost £5,000, a computer, a hard drive, nine phones and around 100 SIM cards to help him open different PayPal accounts using false identities he bought online. Analysis of his phone found evidence of communications with various companies to assist with the running of IPTV Hosting, in which he said he was making £100,000 a month. Despite being released under investigation, Stephen launched two further illegal streaming websites, Black and White TV and Helix Hosting. He was arrested and had his home searched a second time in July 2020, telling officers on the scene "the cash is in the same place as last time". But that wasn't to be the only time Stephen landed himself in trouble with the police. In November 2020, he was arrested again by British Transport Police at Kings Cross station on suspicion of money laundering, after a staff member at Thirsk station saw him place a carrier bag behind a grit bin before boarding a train to London. The staff member checked the contents of the bag and was shocked to find £20,000. Kieron Sharp, Chairman of anti piracy organisation FACT, said: "This investigation and the outcome underline that illegal streaming is not a victimless crime. "It harms the creative economy and funds criminality. "FACT commends the work of PIPCU in bringing this long-running case to justice." Warning over 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks Illegal streaming can be delivered by a number of devices by one of the most common are 'jailbroken' Fire Sticks, which means a third-party media server software has been installed on to it. The software most commonly used is called Kodi. It can grant users unrestricted access to new features and apps the normal version of the device wouldn't allow – but it is not legal to use in the UK. But it becomes illegal when a box is used to stream subscription channels for free. It is also illegal to buy or sell these modified devices which have become known as "fully-loaded" - a term that describes how the software has been altered to allow access to subscription-only channels. 'These devices are legal when used to watch legitimate, free to air, content,' the government said at the time. 'They become illegal once they are adapted to stream illicit content, for example TV programmes, films and subscription sports channels without paying the appropriate subscriptions.'
