Man jailed for selling counterfeit games and hair irons after a prosecution by Blaenau Gwent trading standards

A man who copied games and offered a "chipping" service from his home has been jailed after his crimes were tracked down on eBay.

The defendant will serve four and a half months in custody and the same again in the community after admitting nine charges when he appeared at Cardiff Crown Court.

The matter came to the attention of Blaenau Gwent council's Trading Standards department during rountine monitoring of the eBay online auction site. A warrant was executed at the home, where officers found equipment allowing people to play games downloaded illegally, along with a downloaded library of 1840 games on his computer.

The defendant pleaded guilty to a near three-year campaign between 2007 and 2009 to downloading the games to produce unlawful copies, along with possessing, importing and supplying circumvention devices (R4 cards) to allow the Nintendo consoles to play copied games. He also pleaded guilty to supplying a batch of counterfeit GHD hair straighteners.

 In summing up Lord Justice John Curran said that copyright theft was all to prevalent, and caused damage to the industry, illustrated by the lengths they had to go to in order to prevent unauthorised copying. He was also satisfied that Howell was looking for a significant profit from the venture.

Blaenau Gwent executive member for crime and disorder, Councillor John Hopkins, said, "This has been a complex case, but I am pleased that the persistence of the Trading Standards team has achieved a good result-one which should send a warning to anyone involved in illegal copying and distribution. Counterfeiting is far from a victimless crime as it affects the livlihoods of local traders trying to make an honest living, and those working in the industry. In bringing more cases to justice, we are likley to see more custodial sentences."