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£13,000 recovered from convicted trader after re-offending
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Payment secured two years after conviction for illegal sports channel broadcasts
The Eastern Region Special Operations Unit (ERSOU) has secured the repayment of more than £13,000 from a convicted trader, after he had evaded payment for over two years.
William Marston, 55, formerly of Knowsley Road, Norwich, who traded as Billie the Bookie, was sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment in May for selling unauthorised TV decoders, in contravention of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, having previously been handed a 12-month suspended sentence for the same crime in 2016, after a private prosecution.
He had been ordered to pay back £12,042 in 2016, but failed to hand over any cash. In August 2017, ERSOU’s Asset Confiscation Enforcement (ACE) team was called in to assist and on Friday (9 November) recovered the outstanding debt, plus interest of £1,504, after securing his share in a property.
Nick Bentley Financial Investigation Manager of the ACE team said: “This confiscation order sends a clear message that anyone benefiting from their criminal actions will have those assets stripped from them, as crime will not pay. Through good partnership working between the ACE team and the South-East Regional Confiscation Unit we have recovered assets from another person who has profited from unlawful activity.”
Kieron Sharp, CEO of The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), said: “Following on from a sentence of imprisonment in May 2018, William Marston now has to pay back money that he made from his criminal enterprise. Others taking part in illegal streaming and other related criminality should be aware that the penalties for offending encompass the seizing of criminal profits as well as any sentence for the original offence. I would like to thank the officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit for pursuing Marston’s criminal assets using proceeds of crime legislation.”
Kevin Smith, General Counsel of SIS, said “We are very pleased that ERSOU has secured the payment of the confiscation order, following the custodial sentence in May. The court recognised that Marston’s actions undermined the entire system of how betting is licensed and racing is funded. The sentence handed down at the time highlighted that fact that the courts are prepared to treat copyright infringement as theft. The fact that the authorities are prepared to recover the proceeds of crime further reinforces the consequences of this kind of criminal behavior.
“SIS has an obligation to its customers and rights holders alike to ensure that the value of content remains undiluted and will not hesitate to prosecute offenders in the future.”
About SIS
SIS (Sports Information Services Ltd) is a leading supplier of products and services to the online and retail betting markets and has been at the heart of global bookmaking for more than 30 years. SIS delivers multiple channels of live racing, data and commentary from racecourses and greyhound tracks in the UK, Ireland and across the world.
In addition to its satellite delivery network, SIS has developed its own low latency streaming platform – SIS Stream, which delivers quick, secure and high-quality pictures, data and virtual content across the globe. SIS continues to develop innovative solutions to suit bookmakers at all levels of the industry, and now provides competitive pricing for UK, Ireland and international horse racing, along with greyhound and other sports via its Trading Services offer.
For more information about SIS please visit www.sis.tv
About FACT
FACT is one of the UK’s leading intellectual property protection organisation protecting brands and businesses from intellectual property crime.
Established for over 35 years, FACT is at the forefront of the fight against intellectual property crime in the UK and internationally, specialising in protecting both physical and digital content. FACT leads the way in tackling digital piracy and is always up-to-date on technological changes and advancements.
Source: Latest News on European Gaming Media Network

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UK Gambling Commission Publishes Further Data on the Gambling Industry in Great Britain
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has published further data on the gambling industry in Great Britain.
This data, sourced from operators, reflects the period between March 2020 and March 2025, inclusive, and covers online and in-person gambling covering Licensed Betting Operators (LBOs) found on Britain’s high streets.
This release compares Quarter 4 (Q4) of financial year 2024 to 2025, with Q4 of 2023 to 2024, looking at how the market has changed in comparative periods over a year.
The latest operator data shows:
• online total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) in Q4 (January to March) was £1.45 billion, an increase of 7% from Q4 the previous year. The overall number of total bets and/or spins increased 5% Year-on-Year (YoY), to 25.2 billion, whilst the average monthly active accounts in the quarter increased 2%, to 13.5 million.
• real event betting GGY increased by 5% YoY to £596 million. The number of bets decreased 1%, while the average monthly active accounts in Q4 decreased 2%.
• slots GGY increased 11% to £689 million YoY. The number of spins increased 6% to 23.4 billion while the average monthly active accounts in Q4 increased 6% to 4.5 million per month.
• the number of online slots sessions lasting longer than an hour increased by 5% YoY to 10.1 million. The average session length stayed consistent at 17 minutes. Approximately 6% of all sessions lasted more than one hour, the same as the Q4 the previous year.
• LBO GGY decreased by 3% to £554 million in Q4 2024 to 2025, compared to the same quarter last year. The number of total bets and spins decreased by 5% to 3.1 billion.
The post UK Gambling Commission Publishes Further Data on the Gambling Industry in Great Britain appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Allwyn’s Local Retail Champions Completed First Stage of Their Social Value Store Makeover
National Lottery operator, Allwyn’s, 2024 Local Retail Champions, Natalie and Martin Lightfoot – who own Londis Solo Convenience in Glasgow – have completed the first stage of their Social Value store makeover by installing new colleague headsets to help with security at the store.
The husband-and-wife shopkeepers were awarded £5000 cash and a Social Value store makeover worth up to £20,000 when they were crowned National Winners at Allwyn’s first ever Local Retail Champions awards in December. They had been nominated for the award by their customers for a host of community-focused work, such as organising charity fundraising events and local litter-picking activities, as well as providing a home delivery service for those in need.
Natalie and Martin have beallgun the Social Value store makeover work – which will take a number of months to complete – by installing six new colleague headsets to improve security at the store. The headsets enhance communication between store staff, increasing safety for both customers and staff and enabling colleagues to respond quickly to assistance requests.
The next stage of the store makeover activity will see the installation of new CCTV equipment, replacing the current 15-year-old system. As well as protecting the store, the CCTV currently helps keeps the community safer, with cameras located outside of the store successfully having been used in the past to help with investigations.
The final stage of the makeover will include installation of retail AI technology, with initial plans for this currently being looked at by Natalie and Martin.
Natalie said: “We’re really grateful to Allwyn for what the Local Retail Champions store makeover money is helping us do with security in the store. The headsets have been a godsend. The store has thick walls, making it difficult to hear each other in different areas of the shop, so the headsets allow us all to communicate and respond to things quickly as a team. We’re also in the process of getting new CCTV installed which will provide clearer pictures as the current system is quite pixelated and very dated. We wouldn’t have been able to get any of this new equipment without the Local Retail Champions makeover money, not for a long while anyway.”
Allwyn’s Director of Commercial Partnerships and Retail Sales, Alison Acquaye-Acford said: “We know Natalie is passionate about store security for retailers and has spoken publicly about the subject in the past, so we’re really happy we’ve been able to support her own store’s security needs with the store makeover. And she and her husband are absolutely deserving of the prize – they are a shining example of retailers who go above and beyond for their local community, which is precisely why they were crowned one of our two National Winners at Allwyn’s 2024 Local Retail Champions awards. We’re looking forward to hearing about how the project progresses further.”
The Local Retail Champions initiative is paid for with money from Allwyn’s dedicated Social Value Fund, which is an annual £1 million that the company has committed to using to support operating The National Lottery in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Last year, Allwyn used a portion of the fund to reward and recognise the important role its retail partners play in every community across the UK and Isle of Man – and arrangements for this year’s programme will become available over the coming months.
The post Allwyn’s Local Retail Champions Completed First Stage of Their Social Value Store Makeover appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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Darts Player Andy Jenkins Gets 11-year Ban for Match-fixing
Former World Championship semi-finalist Andy Jenkins has been handed an 11-year ban and £17580 fine for match-fixing.
Following a hearing before the DRA Disciplinary Committee Jenkins was found guilty of fixing 12 matches between 22 February 2022 and 5 July 2023 and passing information relating to this to bettors.
Jenkins also admitted using his own account to place 88 bets on matches between 17 March 2022 and 4 May 2023, breaching a DRA rule preventing any player from betting on any darts event.
The UK Gambling Commission’s Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) supported the investigation by facilitating information gathered in the course of its enquiries.
Full details of Jenkins’ failures can be found on the DRA website.
John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, said: “This case sends a strong and unequivocal message to all sportspeople – if you fix matches, you are likely to be caught and face serious consequences.
“Betting customers in Britain deserve confidence that the markets they engage with are fair and free from corruption.
“Our Sports Betting Intelligence Unit will continue to work closely with partners such as the Darts Regulation Authority to identify and prevent match-fixing.”
The post Darts Player Andy Jenkins Gets 11-year Ban for Match-fixing appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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