A FILM fan involved in a £1.5m counterfeit DVD and CD scam was jailed yesterday.

Timothy Strangeway sold the goods at car boot sales in Seaham and Sedgefield, County Durham, for a year before he was caught.

Teesside Crown Court heard he was working for Paul Canning, the Mr Big of the operation, who has since been jailed for three-and-a-half years for his involvement.

The court heard that Strangeway was a movie fan and had been approached by Canning to run the stall after he became a customer.

Unbeknown to the gang, who are believed to have cost the recording industry £8m, they were being watched by undercover trading standards officers.

On May 30, last year, Strangeway was seen handing Canning a large amount of money, which was later discovered to be £1,000 in takings from a day's work at Seaham market.

A letter from trading standards officers, who at the time had not indentified Strangeway, was sent to his former home in Cato Street, Sunderland, warning him of the dangers of selling counterfeit goods after his car was spotted close to a stall selling the items.

Officers also followed him to Spennymoor market, where he was observed selling counterfeit films and DVDs.

Officers who carried out a search of his home recovered 945 counterfeit disks, a computer with 635 music files, 1,000 graphic files with film images and a duplicator used to copy disks.

While on bail for the offences, it was discovered Strangeway was still passing on counterfeit goods to family and friends.

The 34-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to eight months in prison.

Andrew Finlay, mitigating, said Strangeway was a huge film fan and had operated the stall in exchange for films. He claimed had only been paid £150 during the year by Canning.