Man jailed for running £1 million illegal streaming operation

A man who pocketed £1 million by running three illegal streaming websites has been jailed.

Stephen Woodward sold illegal access to copyrighted content through the websites IPTV Hosting, Helix Hosting and Black and White TV. He used the funds to buy designer clothes and jewellery, holidays and a Jaguar F-Type V8 coupe worth £91,000.

His brother, Christopher Woodward, received £126,000 derived from the sales of the illegal streaming websites.

Following an investigation by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, the brothers were sentenced at York Crown Court on 11 July 2025 as follows:

• Stephen Woodward, 36, of Front Street, Thirsk, was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. He pleaded guilty at the same court on 21 February 2025 to distributing articles infringing copyright and four money laundering offences.
• Christopher Woodward, 34, of Dalton Moor, Thirsk, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and must also complete 240 hours of unpaid work. He pleaded guilty at the same court on 21 February 2025 to money laundering.

PIPCU’s investigators secured an all-assets restraint order against a total of £1.1 million held in 15 bank accounts and 21 cryptocurrency wallets owned by Stephen. A further £144,121 worth of cash, which was seized from Stephen during the investigation, was also frozen. These funds, in addition to jewellery seized by officers from Stephen’s address, will now be subject to confiscation proceedings.

Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, said:

“Illegal streaming weakens the creative industries by diverting money away from legitimate businesses and into the hands of criminals like Stephen Woodward. Lost revenue as a result of illegal streaming means fewer jobs and less investment in future opportunities. It’s estimated that this criminal activity contributes to over 80,000 job losses each year alone.

“Stephen was brazen in running his illegal steaming websites. Despite being the subject of a criminal investigation, he had clearly not learned his lesson and yet again attempted to gain financially from his illegal activity.

“His sentencing and upcoming confiscation proceedings should send a message that there are significant consequences for criminals who enable illegal access to copyrighted content.”

IPTV Hosting advertised itself as the first IPTV provider with more than 4,500 channels. It provided illegal access to TV channels, including Sky Sports and BT Sports, to end users and resellers for a fee.

The investigation found that subscriptions were paid for via card payments, 13 PayPal accounts owned by Stephen and peer-to-peer payment services such as Circle. Stephen would exchange the money into cryptocurrency, convert it back to flat currency and then deposit it across 23 bank accounts, in order to disguise the origin of his funds.

Officers from PIPCU arrested Stephen in November 2019 and searched his home address. They seized a computer, hard drive and nine phones, as well as £4,760 in cash found in a desk drawer in his living room.

Around 100 envelopes, each containing a SIM card with a name written on it, were also seized. Stephen used the SIM cards to help open PayPal and bank accounts using false identities he had bought online.

Stephen was released under investigation while enquiries continued.

PIPCU’s analysis of Stephen’s phone uncovered evidence to show that he had been in communication with various companies to assist with the running of IPTV Hosting.

In his messages to Christopher, Stephen said that he was making £100,000 a month through illegal streaming. Stephen used the funds to buy designer jewellery and clothes, holidays and a Jaguar F-Type V8 coupe worth £91,000.

In 2020, while the investigation into IPTV Hosting was underway, officers were alerted by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) that Stephen had started running two further illegal streaming websites, Black and White TV and Helix Hosting. The websites provided illegal access to watch Premier League matches, as well as over 6,500 channels from around the world.

Officers from PIPCU arrested Stephen for the second time and searched his home address in July 2020. He told officers that “the cash is in the same place as last time”, referring to the desk drawer in his living room, from which around £28,600 in cash was seized. He was released under investigation.

PIPCU’s investigators secured an all-assets restraint order against a total of £1.1 million held in 15 bank accounts and 21 cryptocurrency wallets owned by Stephen. A further £144,121 worth of cash, which was seized from Stephen during the investigation, was also frozen.

This includes £22,150 in cash that was seized in November 2020. Stephen was arrested by British Transport Police (BTP) at Kings Cross station on suspicion of money laundering, after a staff member at Thirsk station saw him place a carrier bag behind a grit bin and then board a train to London. The staff member checked the contents of the bag and, upon finding it contained £20,000, alerted BTP.

BTP officers searched Stephen’s address later that day and seized an envelope containing £1,770 in cash hidden in the loft. They seized a further £380 from Stephen.

In October 2022, Stephen was detained by Border Force officers at Gatwick whilst attempting to board a flight to Vancouver. Three bundles of cash, worth a total of £10,870, were seized from his luggage.

The cash seized by BTP and Border Force officers was incorporated into PIPCU’s investigation.

The three websites run by Stephen are no longer in operation.

Kieron Sharp, Chairman of FACT, said:

"This investigation and the outcome underline that illegal streaming is not a victimless crime. It harms the creative economy and funds criminality. FACT commends the work of PIPCU in bringing this long-running case to justice." 

Notes to editors
PIPCU has applied for a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO) against Stephen. The SCPO means that he will be subject to a number of restrictions once released from prison, to prevent him from committing further offences.

Stephen pleaded guilty to distributing articles infringing copyright, transferring criminal property, converting criminal property and two counts of possessing criminal property.

Christopher pleaded guilty to entering into an arrangement contrary to the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that at least 86,300 jobs were lost in the UK in 2016 due to counterfeiting and piracy.