Manchester city council report
A man who was caught running a ‘sophisticated’ DVD counterfeiting operation from his garden shed has been ordered to pay £10,000 following a Manchester City Council prosecution.
Michael Kilcourse, aged 44, was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £2,500 legal costs at Manchester Crown Court on Friday, July 25, after pleading guilty to seven counts of counterfeiting.
City Council trading standards officers, along with Greater Manchester Police officers, raided his home in Tuxford Walk, Collyhurst, in September 2005 after receiving a tip-off.
The shed, which was alarmed, protected with a CCTV camera, and had a steel roller blind shutter protecting its door, contained more than 2,000 copied DVDs and CDs.
The shed also contained computers with disc burning equipment, a printer, a guillotine used for cutting card and paper, and piles of blank discs.
There were also signs reading “we take Visa, Switch and Mastercard” and “we are always pleased to serve you” on the shed’s wall, and a poster on the door providing details of health and safety at work laws.
