Two brothers jailed for 11 years over illegal Premier League streaming ring

It comes as part of a wider crackdown

Their arrests and sentencings come as part of a larger nationwide crackdown in the UK on the illegal practice that is becoming increasingly common.

Yesterday, Amir Butt, 56, was sentenced to seven years after allegedly failing to appear in court while his brother Ammar Hussain, 39 was sentenced to four years.

Working under the names of Tech & Sat Ltd and Techsat and Tech + Sat, the pair from Ilford in east London were found guilty of conspiracy to defraud.

They operated over a seven-year period between August 2012 and March 2019.

The brothers are alleged to have sold illegal annual subscriptions for Sky and the Premier League to thousands of households at a rate of £200.

It is believed the pair earned hundreds and thousands of pounds through there illicit venture.

Butt and Hussain were eventually snuffed out by anti-piracy organisation FACT who recently aided the police in conducting one of the largest anti-illegal streaming operations the UK has ever seen.

It has been five years since the brothers were arrested in March 2019 with cash, Sky set-top boxes and viewing cards seized from the perpetrators' properties.

Sky’s Group Director of Anti-Piracy, Matt Hibbert, said in a statement that the sentencing signals the "significant consequences" that partaking in an illegal streaming ring trails with it.

He said: "We are grateful to FACT and to London Borough of Redbridge Trading Standards for their assistance in tackling what was a brazen illegal streaming operation.

"We will continue to work with partners and law enforcement to protect our content and help keep consumers safe from criminal piracy networks."

Kieron Sharp, CEO of FACT, was equally as stern, calling the verdict both "a punishment" and "a deterrent to others".

These sentencings come as part of a larger crackdown on illicit streaming.

In late July three men were arrested for distributing Amazon TV Fire Sticks with illegal streaming content downloaded on it.

Meanwhile two men were caught and sentenced earlier this year for running an illegal streaming ring known as Titan Streams as well as selling illicit streaming gadgets to thousands of people as reported Worcestershire County Council.

The perpetrators, Benjamin Yates and Lewis Finch pleaded guilty and were sentenced to a 20 month suspended sentence for 18 months and 250 hours of unpaid work.