Halesowen DVD and computer game pirate spared prison

A former market trader who created his own "cottage industry" making and selling counterfeit DVDs and computer games has avoided jail.

Adrian Kirton, aged 47, of Abbey Road, Halesowen, was sentenced to a total of 50 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday.

Kirton, who is presently unemployed, had admitted 32 charges involving the breach of trademark regulations at a previous hearing.

The court heard that thousands of fake DVDs and console games had been found at Kirton's home and at a market stall he ran in Cradley Heath.

A computer and copying equipment were seized by trading standards, police and the Federation Against Copyright Theft in raids in December 2008.

Trading Standards had been investigating Kirton since November 2007 after receiving a complaint from a member of the public.

The court, sitting in Brierley Hill, yesterday sentenced Kirton to 50 weeks for each charge, to run concurrently, and he was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work. He was also banned from leaving his home between 6pm and 6am for 20 weeks and was ordered to pay costs of £150.

Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting, said: "He had set up a cottage industry at his own home."