A man working in an illegal DVD ‘warehouse’ in London, is behind bars after the court heard that 36,000 pirate and 7,000 hardcore pornographic DVDs were found there.

The court heard how London's Tower Hamlets Council’s trading standards officers raided the address accompanied by the police and the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) and found fake and unclassified DVDs and cover sleeves with a total street value of about £90,000.

Bao Chen, 30, was sentenced after pleading guilty to offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and the Video Recordings Act 1984.

Chen accepted he knew the DVDs were fake. According to FACT, the loss to the retail industry would have been somewhere in the region of £204,000. The flat was a warehouse (pictured) under the disguise of a residential flat

In mitigation the court heard that Chen had played no part in the sale of the DVDs and that his role was to open boxes and sort them out. The court also heard that Chen had pleaded guilty and had been very helpful to police.

Chen was sentenced to two years imprisonment for the offence contrary to the Trade Marks Act 1994 for the counterfeiting of the mainstream titles and 12 months for the offence contrary to the Video Recordings Act 1984 for the unclassified pornographic DVDs to run concurrently. A forfeiture order was also made for the DVDs, which will now be destroyed.

Story filed 21.06.08