Pub firm faces £116,000 bill over Premier League games streaming

A father and son who run 11 pubs in Hull face a bill of £116,000 for streaming Premier League games over the internet at the venues.

Alister Darroch and his son, Charles Darroch, were fined £33,000 each at Hull Magistrates Court following a prosecution bought by law firm Media Protection Services, which investigates cases of copyright offences on behalf of the Premier League.

Both were also ordered to pay around £25,000 in costs.

The pair's defence team is understood to have made an unsuccessful plea that the case was affected by the recent non-binding opinion issued by the Advocate General at the European Court of Justice relating to foreign decoder cards.

Ray Hoskin, managing director of Media Protection Services, said: "This serious case was notable for two reasons, the first being the scale of fines and costs imposed.

"The second is that this is the first case not directly involving a decoder card but copyright offences committed via an internet device.

"I am disappointed that a minority of publicans still ignore the many warnings given by the courts and ourselves over a period of years."

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By Neil Gerrard

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