A husband-and-wife team have been sentenced to seven months in prison having been found guilty of running an illegal DVD and CD copying operation in Durham, North East England.

In the first successful prosecution of 2009 for such offences, though denying selling counterfeit goods, the couple was found guilty. Graeme and Sharon Shead were to be sentenced for offences under the Trade Marks Act (1994) and the Video Recordings Act (1985) as a result of a prosecution brought by Durham Trading Standards.

Following undercover surveillance at local markets in the Durham area, conducted by officers from Durham Trading Standards Department as well as investigators from ELSPA (the Entertainment&Leisure Publishers Association), video footage evidence was recorded of the couple selling counterfeit goods at local markets.

On August 21 2007, a search warrant was obtained and a raid subsequently executed by Trading Standards, ELSPA officers and local Police at the premises of Graeme and Sharon Shead, which they shared with two children. During the raid, approximately 130 counterfeit computer games were seized along with additional pirated DVDs, CDs and computer equipment– including a copying tower.

The maximum penalty upon conviction for offences under the Trade Marks Act is an unlimited fine and/or up to 10 years imprisonment.

Story filed 19.01.09