Two men have been jailed for a total of three years after admitting their part in the running of one of the biggest ever pirate DVD factories in the UK, capable of producing thousands of counterfeited films each day.

John Tak Ke Lau, a chef, aged 45, of Upper Clapton Road, London, and Chee Chong Liew, an unemployed 35-year-old man of the same address, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, Sony and Columbia when they appeared at Harrow Crown Court.

Lau and Liew were both arrested at the DVD factory. Thousands of illegally copied DVDs were seized, along with computers, DVD burners and blank DVDs and plastic cases. Kent Police said the facility, in Burnt Oak, north London, could make up to 36,000 counterfeit films every day.

Trade value of the counterfeit activities was estimated by police at £1.2 million per month.

Lau was sent to prison for 16 months and Liew was jailed for 21 months. The judge recommended that Liew should be deported at the end of his sentence.

The two Chinese men were both arrested when officers from Kent Police’s serious crime squad discovered the factory at an industrial unit in London earlier this year.

Story filed 10.05.06