Four men from Merseyside have been caught selling modified Amazon Fire Sticks that enabled illegal streaming of subscription-based content, with sentences ranging from a suspended term to five years in prison.
One defendant fled the country with his dog and was jailed for five years in his absence, while another was spared prison despite netting more than £200,000. A third man was jailed for 40 months after his barrister argued his actions had an "element of Robin Hood" about them.
Mark Brockley: Fled to France and Spain
Mark Brockley, formerly of John Bagot Close in Everton, fled the country with his dog after pocketing hundreds of thousands of pounds by selling pirated subscriptions. He spent years on the run in France and Spain before returning to Liverpool Crown Court, where a judge told him: "Nice to see you."
Brockley was involved in a "pyramid selling scheme" alongside an unidentified man known only as "Freddie", who sat at the top of the operation. The then 54-year-old advertised the services of the illicit Infinity IPTV platform on social media and was said to have "recruited and controlled others below him".
Prosecutor Dominic Hockley described how Brockley failed to disclose his unlawful income for tax purposes after generating an estimated £312,000 through his involvement, evidenced by transfers directly into his PayPal and bank accounts. It was estimated that his actions caused a loss in revenue in the region of £3 million to BT.
Investigators believe Brockley travelled to France in the company of his dog to evade justice, with his whereabouts remaining unknown for several years. He was ultimately arrested in Spain in 2025 and returned to the UK after unsuccessfully attempting to fight extradition proceedings.
A probe was launched in November 2018 when the broadcaster reported a Twitter account using the handle @Infinity_IPTV, which was "advertising the sale of premium film, television and sports content to its followers". Subscribers could purchase a month's subscription for £15, with Brockley found to have made a total of 5,251 sales between October 2014 and May 2019.
It was also discovered he had not declared any income to HM Revenue and Customs since December 2018. His home was raided by police in July 2019, when officers seized £1,200 in cash, as well as a laptop and a mobile phone. Despite the involvement of the law, Brockley received a further 10 payments for his services after this date. He was found guilty of distributing articles infringing on copyright and fraudulently evading income tax by a jury in his absence and sentenced for five years.
Following his return to the country, Judge David Swinnerton told Brockley: "Nice to see you. We did not see you throughout your trial, which is why I sentenced you in your absence. I would have passed a consecutive sentence for a breach of bail but I am unable to do so because of the way your extradition has proceeded, so you are lucky."
Kevin O'Donnell: Gambling addiction led to sales
Kevin O'Donnell, of Altcross Road in Croxteth, made a small fortune flogging dodgy Fire Sticks online to fund his gambling addiction. The dad sold modified Fire Sticks for the illegal streaming of subscription-based content between September 2020 and March 2023.
O'Donnell was caught after FACT opened an investigation into a Facebook profile named "Kev O'James", which advertised the sale of subscription packages for up to £85 on Amazon Fire Sticks or remotely on smart devices, in May 2022. The page read: “Don’t go with amateurs who have been selling for a few months. Come with us, we have been selling for many years”.
This account was subsequently found to be linked to O'Donnell's personal profile, leading to a £40 test purchase for a 12-month package for Sky and BT content. Investigators discovered that 574 transactions had been paid into to the same PayPal account used during the test purchase, amounting to a total of £136,000 in sales.
O'Donnell, who was said to have had a "significant gambling addiction" and issues with alcohol, later pleaded guilty to supplying articles for the use of fraud. He was ultimately handed a two-year imprisonment suspended for two years in 2024.
Jonathan Edge: Jailed for 40 months
Jonathan Edge, who lived on Anfield Road, complained that he had been "grassed on" when he was caught selling Fire Sticks modified for the illegal streaming of sports fixtures, TV shows and movies. The then 29-year-old made at least £15,000 by adapting the devices at his home between April 2020 and December 2023.
Edge advertised his services on Facebook and Instagram at a cost of £30 per Fire Stick, with discounts offered for bulk purchases. This gave his customers access to subscription-based content belonging to Sky and BT Sport, as well as a library of around 10,000 blockbuster films, worth "well over £1million".
Having later pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, Edge's barrister Julian Nutter told the court: "He had lost his employment in a restaurant as a result of the covid emergency, and he had been doing this on an adhoc basis, but nothing like what it became, and, after he lost his job, he used this to maintain his family. There are two children, aged nine and 12."
Nutter added: "He was taking far too much cannabis and he was not his normal self. He was a bottom feeder and not some exotic big fish. He was operating from his own home, and this was not a sophisticated business scheme. There was none of the trappings of a proper business enterprise."
"Whether or not he made a significant profit is an issue which is raised. The point should be made on his behalf that the people who would buy his products would not be people who are likely to have the money to buy a Sky subscription. They have limited income. The people he would be dealing with in the Merseyside area would hardly be the same as toffs in London who would have money coming in from the city. He was providing a service to people who would probably not be able to afford it otherwise. There's an element of a Robin Hood to all that."
But Edge was jailed for 40 months, with the then Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC having told him: "To avoid this subscription is not only dishonest but also threatens the operations of these services. People like you seem to think it's clever or funny or a legitimate con if you can get away with it. But the reality is broadcasters lose millions through such activity."
"The defence submits on your behalf you were operating at the bottom of the chain, a somewhat wretched and pathetic individual, out of his depth. I do not accept that. Your activities were blatant, and probably because you never thought you would be held to account."
Craig Austin: NHS worker spared prison
NHS worker Craig Austin netted more than £200,000 via his side line of selling dodgy Fire Sticks. The dad, of Keats Avenue in Whiston, gained more than 1,000 customers by providing illegal access to Sky Sports streams over the course of around five years.
He advertised his services on social media while trying to "make ends meet" after his wife lost her job. With his activities having potentially cost the broadcaster in the region of £3 million, a judge told the now former ambulance service employee as he was spared prison: "This is really serious behaviour. The figures involved are eye-watering."
Liverpool Crown Court heard on Wednesday that Austin was identified as being the operator of a Twitter, now X, account known as "Aussie 90", which advertised "dodgy Fire Sticks" for sale, following two test purchases by Merseyside Police and FACT in March 2023 and May 2025. Further investigations into the 38-year-old's PayPal and bank accounts found a series of transfers from customers dating back to January 2020.
Prosecutor Olivia Belle described how Austin would offer six month subscriptions for Sky Sports and BT Sports, now TNT Sports, streams via IPTV for £40, or £80 for 12 months. In total, he was identified to have amassed 1,116 services users, generating proceeds of £205,700.72.
The probe led to police executing a search warrant at Austin's home on August 7 last year, with officers seizing a number of mobile phones and Fire Sticks. Under interview, he told detectives that he had ceased his activities in June the previous year when he "realised that people were being prosecuted", adding that he "knew it was dodgy, but he was doing it to make ends meet" after his wife lost her job.
Austin, who has no previous convictions, also stated that he had initially been approached by a company via the same social media platform asking him to sell IPTV subscriptions, which he "did willingly to make extra money". An anti-piracy investigator from Sky meanwhile estimated that, had the more than 1,000 subscribers paid legitimately for the entertainment packages over the entire duration of his offending, the company would have netted £3,661,908.48.
With Austin being a dad to two young children and his wife said to be in poor health, Nicola Daley, defending, told the court: "In my submission, although this is, on the one hand, serious offending, that is outweighed on the balancing scales by the significant mitigation. In my submission, his genuine remorse feeds into the realistic prospect of rehabilitation."
"The author of that probation report has noted positive admissions. There is still work that can be done. This is somebody who, despite losing his good name and losing his work for the NHS, not significantly well paid, but still work he had done for a number of years, he has gone out and found himself another job. I can assure the court that he does take his responsibility seriously. He has come to court today expecting the potential of receiving a custodial sentence."
Austin admitted three counts of making or supplying an article for use in fraud and acquiring criminal property. Wearing a navy blue suit in the dock, he was handed a 32-month imprisonment suspended for three years with 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 20 days.
Cries of "yes" were heard from Austin's supporters as he was told he would not be going to jail, with two women seen leaving the public gallery at this stage. He meanwhile initially looked to the ceiling before hunching over in his seat, after which he appeared to be close to tears.
Sentencing, Recorder Daniel Lister said: "I am satisfied that you are someone who has demonstrated remorse and cooperated with the investigation throughout these proceedings. In reality, it is pretty straight forward. You were, from September 2019 until the end of May 2025, involved in the wholesale supply of what might be called hooky Fire Sticks, IPTV subscription services."
"Those are Fire Sticks that lots of people are familiar with. People use them to get access to subscription services offered by Sky TV. It appears that your involvement in that behaviour started in an opportunistic way. You saw your opportunity, and it grew and grew to such an extent that the total value of your offending is £200,000. You had 1,116 customers. Over that period, you were running a significant operation and making significant income from it."
"What you engaged in was five years worth of serious dishonesty, and you would have known it at the time. It is clear that you are not only someone with another side to you, because you are a caring and attentive father and husband, but you have also worked in a responsible role with the ambulance service and conducted yourself in that role in a way that would be commendable."
"You continue to be someone that works. The pre-sentence report says that you are someone who represents a low risk of reconviction. I am sure that you are someone who is very unlikely to be involved with the criminal justice system in this way again."
"There is a level of sophistication in the nature of the offending. The fraudulent activity was conducted over a sustained period of time. The aggravating features, in reality, are the fact that you had 1,116 customers and made over £200,000 from your enterprise."
"The mitigation in this case is your lack of previous convictions, your remorse, your positive good character, the personal circumstances that have been set out to me in the way that you support your wife and children and that you have prospects of work in the future. In this case, I am satisfied that there is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in the community."
"You do not present a high risk of reoffending. You have strong personal mitigation. It is clear that you have children who are dependant upon you, and there would be an impact on them if you were imprisoned. This is really serious behaviour. You are fortunate to find yourself in a situation where prisons are full and, frankly, someone like you who has not been in trouble before can be dealt with in the community. That does not mean this offending is not very serious indeed. The figures involved are eye-watering."
