St Helens - Pirates Caught! No More Burned PS2, Xbox and PC Games

St Helens Police yesterday conducted a surprise raid resulting in the arrest of seven people, one of whom had been using his house as a mini factory to manufacture illegal copied Xbox, PlayStation2 and PC games. Talk about cheap-a*s-gamers... Of course, the guy was doing it for the money. Raids targeted a number of premises known by members of the local community to be engaged in criminal activities, ranging from illegal copying of games and films (worth an estimated �150,000) to dealing in drugs, stolen motorcycles and SIM cards.

After a briefing with Police Inspector Claire Richards, investigators from ELSPA and St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council Trading Standards were granted access to a property in Chiltern Road, St Helens at 7.45am. Here, they discovered a mini copying factory with large quantities of Xbox, PlayStation2 and PC games. Computers, laptops and copying towers were also scattered around the premises.

Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA stated: "The theft of computer and video games software and any other multimedia product by copying it is illegal and has a harmful impact on both local businesses and communities. ELSPA would like to applaud the efforts of all partner agencies concerned in the St Helens raids in what has been a massive collaborative effort to stamp out not only the illegal duplication and distribution of pirated games but also reduce broader crimes including anti-social behaviour."

The guilty ones were held in a single room while the house was being searched. They were then taken to the local police station where they were later bailed out, only to be re-interviewed after further evidence had been gathered from the forensic examinations of the computers.