A father and son who ran an illegal business of copying and selling pirated adult DVDs have been caught.
The two men “had the largest haul of pornographic titles ever found in Cambridgeshire,” according to the news website, www.24dash.com.
After a sting operation on the father and son team, Trading Standards officers in Cambridgeshire County seized around 1,500 DVDs, “most of them hardcore pornography.” The seizure was the largest of its kind in the county’s history.
“Paul Scattergood and his son Philip were caught selling pirated DVDs as part of a joint operation between Trading Standards and the Police,” said the report. The two men's homes were raided and further DVDs and computer copying equipment was discovered and seized.
Cambridge police caught the two men when they went to the market to look for stolen items, counterfeit goods and carry out routine checks.
“On the Scattergood's stall Trading Standards Officers found what appeared to be a mixture of unclassified and classified pornographic DVDs and videos for sale,” continued the report. In England, the law states that titles of a pornographic nature must be classified and can only be sold at licensed sex shops.
A search of the stall and trader's van revealed 7 CDs, 153 DVDs of "mainstream" films, a further 174 DVDs of porn material and 52 porn videos.
The Trading Standards and Police Officers searched the homes of the two men. At Paul Scattergood’s residences, officers seized “271 video tapes and 856 DVDs (the majority being pornographic) and also computer equipment.” Officers then went to Philip Scattergood's home where, according to the report, “they found a few more disks.”
Both men pleaded guilty to having equipment for making false Trade Marks. Paul admitted to 15 charges of breaking the laws of the Trade Marks and Video Recordings Act while Philip admitted to 14 similar charges.
According to the report, “Philip Scattergood was given a 200 hour community punishment order and told to pay £300 in legal costs,” while lawyers asked for a report to be made before sentencing Paul Scattergood.
Cambridgeshire County Councillor John Reynolds, who accompanied officers on the operation, told www.24dash.com, “What surprised everyone was the size of the haul of pornographic films. These films are licensed and classified for a very good reason and I praise the work of Trading Standards and the Police for removing them from sale.”
