Fraudulent ticket touts’ appeal rejected

Two touts who amassed millions reselling tickets have had appeals against their convictions dismissed.

BBZ Limited’s Peter Hunter and David Thomas Smith were jailed in February 2020 following the first successful prosecution of a company over fraudulent ticket resales. 

The pair will now serve their full sentences – four years and to-and-a-half years respectively. 

They used at least 97 different names, 88 postal addresses and more than 290 email addresses to evade ticketing platform restrictions for events including Ed Sheeran concerts and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child theatre performances.

Upon upholding the conviction, The Court of Appeal noted: "[The] ticketing market is one which appears to be characterised by a high degree of criminal fraud.”

National Trading Standards Director Wendy Martin called the ruling a “major milestone” in efforts to combat unscrupulous secondary ticket sales.