West Kirby ‘DVD Man’ jailed for four years

Mar 10 2008 by Matt Hurst, Wirral News Series

A WIRRAL man and his daughter have received lengthy prison sentences and been ordered to pay back substantial profits after being convicted of copyright fraud.

Gordon Cullen, 46 from West Kirby was sentenced to 32 months at Mold Crown Court last Thursday, for making and selling counterfeit games and DVDs at Coed Mawr market in Flintshire, North Wales.

Wirral Trading Standards and the Department of Work and Pensions carried out lengthy surveillance work at the market and found Cullen and his daughter, Pauline, 25, running stalls under the banner ‘The DVD Man - for all your quality DVDs at rock bottom prices’.

The pair were charging £5 per disc, with three on offer for £10 and seven available for £20.

Pauline Cullen, of Beechwood, Wirral, was sentenced to 8 months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid community work.

But her father, Gordon received an additional 16 month sentence for benefit fraud, and, following an in-depth investigation by the Regional Asset Recovery Team will be forced to pay back £190,000 in illegal profits.

He has six months to do this or face a further three years inside.

Cllr Gill Gardiner, cabinet member for the environment said: “This sentence reflects the damage the Cullen’s activities caused to legitimate traders in DVDs and computer games.

“We aren’t resting on out laurels and are targeting more of this illegal activity.”

Suspicions were aroused in October 2006 when a series of coordinated raids, code-named Operation Buzzard, took place throughout Wirral, Cheshire and North Wales to disrupt the supply of counterfeit goods and detect organised benefit fraud.

Both of the Cullens’ homes were raided and equipment used in the manufacture of illegally copied discs and large quantities of fake goods, together with financial evidence, were seized.