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Two ticket touts who made £9.3million re-selling Ed Sheeran and Adele concert tickets were jailed yesterday (February 24).
Peter Hunter and his civil partner David Smith used various identities and computer bots to purchase a large amount of tickets.
The investigation into them began after Sheeran hit back at touts ripping off fans which lead to many being unable to attend his concerts.
His manager Stuart Camp told Leeds crown court he had spotted £75 seats for a charity gig on sale for £7,000.
This makes it the very first prosecution by National Trading Standards of online ticket reselling.
The pair also targeted X Factor Live and Strictly Come Dancing, West End show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the Eurovision Song Contest.
They traded under the company names Ticket Wiz and BZZ and admitted breaching the terms and conditions of primary sellers like Ticketmaster.
However, they argued that it was not a criminal offence and insisted they were running a legitimate business.
But the court heard the pair, of Tottenham, North London, were “dishonest fraudsters motivated by greed”.
Hunter, 51, was jailed for four years yesterday and Smith, 66, got 30 months after being found guilty earlier.
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