Investigator admits fans watching illegal Premier League streams are unlikely to be prosecuted

Fans using TV sticks to illegally stream Premier League matches are unlikely to face prosecution despite the top flight’s crackdown on piracy, a leading investigator has admitted.

Mail Sport reported on Tuesday that five men have been sentenced to a total of over 30 years in prison after the Premier League brought about a historic private prosecution to clamp down on the illegal streaming of matches.

Between them, Mark Gould, 36, Steven Gordon, 46, Peter Jolley, 41, Christopher Felvus, 36, William Brown, 33, and Zak Smith, 30, generated in excess of £7million between 2016 and 2021.

Their income came through three pirate streaming organisations which offered illegal access to content including live Premier League matches.

Their sentencing, which marks the world’s largest ever prosecution of an illegal streaming network, comes after over 1,000 individuals were either served with notices or visited by police to warn them about the potential consequences of streaming football illegally.

Five men, including 36-year-old Mark Gould (pictured as investigators search his South London home in May 2018), were jailed for up to 11 years each for distributing illegal streams

Bodycam footage also shows around 30 linked set-top boxes used for the illegal operation piled up in Gould’s home

Yet according to one of the investigators who played a part in this week’s historic prosecution, fans are unlikely to be charged for simply watching the streams. 

‘Investigations are going on all the time,’ Doug Love, Senior Trading Standards Officer at Hammersmith and Fulham Council, said on BBC Radio 5 Live. 

‘This kind of crime has to be countered. If it was left unchecked, sports and society would not be recognisable.

‘Consumers are committing an offence by watching the streams if they know they’re illegal, but we’re looking for distributors. 

‘I believe some individuals have been approached and given letters saying please stop using these streams, but no one is likely to be prosecuted just for watching.’

The illegal streams in question, which can be accessed on subscription-based apps on TV sticks, have also been used to watch other sports and movies, which the police are clamping down on.

They believe illegal streaming sites can be linked with organised crime gangs, with advertising on the web generating funds.

On the sentencing of five top distributors this week, Love said: ‘It was very much a partnership this prosecution. The Premier League came to trading standards having already gathered initial evidence about the principal offender Mark Gould and they asked us to get involved and investigate. 

But a leading investigator admits fans are unlikely to be prosecuted simply for watching illegal streams of Premier League matches

‘We went to see Mark Gould’s computers at his home and it went on from there.

‘One of the defendants has been convicted of another offence as a result of the material found on his computers and though we don’t have any evidence that it’s happened in this case.

‘But when you use links and criminal gangs you may be opening yourself up to the theft of personal data or identity, you may be facilitating the hacking of your computers or you may end up with viruses.

‘This sort of crime shouldn’t be seem as victimless. Without the exposure and revenue from broadcasters, every sport in the UK would be vastly different. It would be lower quality and have less participation and spectators. 

‘For me that would make for a much poorer society. This gang puts tens of thousands of consumers at risk and didn’t pay tax on the millions of pounds they garnered through these offences.’