Lancaster and Morecambe fake CD trio face sentence over £464k operation

Two men and a woman will be sentenced this month over their roles in a plot to trade fake music CDs.
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It comes after a Lancashire Trading Standards probe uncovered thousands of CDs at an address in Morecambe.

John Waldie, 56, of Stuart Avenue, Morecambe, admits 16 charges of unauthorised use of a registered trademark after selling CDs on Amazon.

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However, he tried to argue selling counterfeit CDs was not his idea, and disputed the amount he profited by.

Preston Crown CourtPreston Crown Court
Preston Crown Court

His partner Sarah Forsyth, also known as Capstick, 47, also of Stuart Avenue, Morecambe, admits three charges of a similar nature.

Their co-defendant Adam Keates, 32, of Belmont Close, Lancaster, admits five charges of unauthorised use of a registered trademark, and converting £16,987.60 of criminal property through his bank account - which payments for sales of counterfeit CDs sold via Amazon went into.

3,220 CDs were seized - 2,977 from a van, 207 from a portacabin and 36 from Waldie’s home.

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The case suffered a delay as Waldie sought to distance himself from his involvement, even blaming another man, who has since died.

A trial of issue had to take place before Preston Crown Court to determine his level of involvement in the enterprise.

Prosecutors said he had benefited by around £464,765.71, while Waldie argued the figure was more like £57,000.

However Judge Simon Newell ruled Waldie’s evidence was not credible.

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He pointed out he had declared very modest amounts of income to the court and paid little or no tax, yet was able to sustain a lifestyle which involved the purchase of a 15 year old Bentley, personalised number plate and a trip to Hong Kong for himself, Forsythe and her parents.

Selling fake CDs rips off consumers, retailers, artists and record labels.

The CDs included work by Adele, Coldplay and Sam Smith.

The trio will be sentenced on August 13 at Preston Crown Court.

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