Father-of-two, 29, who sold ‘dodgy firesticks’ letting people stream Premier League matches is jailed for more than three years: Court told he was ‘helping the poor like Robin Hood’

A football fan has been jailed for more than three years after pleading guilty to selling ‘dodgy’ Firesticks to allow access to pirate streams of Premier League football.

Jonathan Edge, 29, from Liverpool, was remanded in custody at the end of last month and sentenced on Tuesday at Liverpool Crown Court after pleading guilty to three offences under the Fraud Act.

He has been jailed for three years and four months, as confirmed by the Premier League, which includes a separate sentence for accessing and viewing the content he supplied.

An investigation discovered that Edge uploaded the content on to Firesticks and was paid cash in hand at his home. 

He was warned on several occasions to stop, but continued to upload the illegal material, which was referenced by the judge as the sentence was handed down.

Julian Nutter, defending, said Edge was arguably acting as a ‘Robin Hood’ type figure by giving people who would struggle to afford a Sky subscription access to the games.   

‘Whether or not he made a significant profit is an issue which is raised. The point should be made on his behalf that the people who would buy his products would not be people who are likely to have the money to buy a Sky subscription,’ Mr Nutter said. 

‘They have limited income. The people he would be been dealing with in the Merseyside area would hardly be the same as toffs in London who would have money coming in from the city. 

‘He was providing a service to people who would probably not be able to afford it otherwise. There’s an element of a Robin Hood to all that.’ 

After carrying out the prosecution, Premier League General Counsel, Kevin Plumb, said: ‘The significant sentence handed down to the individual involved once again serves to highlight the severity of his actions and we thank Merseyside Police for their support throughout the case.

‘We will continue to pursue legal action against those supplying unauthorised access to Premier League football, regardless of the scale or mode of operation. Ignoring warnings to stop only served to make the consequences worse for the individual.

‘The selling of broadcast rights supports the Premier League’s industry-leading financial contribution to the whole football pyramid and we’re pleased that the courts have once again recognised the importance of safeguarding these rights with the outcome of this case. No matter the scale, we will continue to protect these rights by carrying out investigations and prosecuting illegal operators at every level.’

The Premier League were supported in their case by intellectual property protection agency FACT and Merseyside Police.

Detective Sergeant Steve Frame from Merseyside Police added: ‘Merseyside Police is committed to working in collaboration to investigate intellectual property theft and we welcome today’s sentence handed to Edge.

‘Many people see no harm in illegally streaming TV services but they are wrong, and this outcome should serve as a further warning how seriously such copyright theft continues to be taken.’

There has been a clampdown on illegal Firesticks in recent months, with three men arrested back in July as police warned they were targeting more offenders.

Fans were also warned by an anti-piracy agency in September that they were at risk of being hacked if they continued to stream matches illegally.