A father-of-two has been left with a court bill of more than £800 after he admitted running an illegal music radio station from his Northamptonshire home.
Thomas Furniss, from Queen Street in Rushden, said he started broadcasting because of his skills in electronics and was not interested in music or becoming a DJ.
The former Crystal Electronics employee, who was representing himself, said: “It was just a hobby at first because I have always been interested in how electronics work, and I found out on the internet how to do it. I didn’t realise how serious an offence it was.”
Furniss, aged 27, was arrested after someone made a complaint to Ofcom in June about the pirate radio station, named “XS Radio”, which ran from February to July this year. The station was traced to his home in an investigation which cost almost £3,000.
During a hearing at Northampton Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Furniss pleaded guilty to managing, financing, operating and running an unauthorised broadcasting station from his home.
He was given a £280 fine, ordered to pay court costs of £500 and a victim surcharge of £28, and received an order for his laptop and transmitting devices to be forfeited.
Story: Northampton Chronicle
(via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK Yahoo group)
"I didn't realise how serious an offence it was", Mr Furniss, quoted in the local paper. It's only a serious offence in the eyes of fanatics like OFCOM, who are agents of the state. Whether Labour or the Tories are in power, the same pattern has repeated itself since the ordering off the air of Marconi himself in 1920: the establishment are extremely jittery about the power to broadcast being in the hands of non-approved institutions. Gosh, I sound like the Bogus Man don't I?
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