14 DAY TRIAL // 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.