Radio Related Court Cases

Before reading on, please bear in mind that an anagram of Radiocommunications Agency is :-
Imaginary Document Occasion

The work of The Radiocommunications Agency is now carried out by Ofcom.

Court Cases

Why are we interested?

What interests us are the so-called offences committed, and the penalties handed down. These penalties are quite often many times more than those given to real criminals involved in theft, robbery, and violent attacks. When an analogy is made with motoring offences, you really see the discrepancies, it is possible to cause death by dangerous driving, and be fined less than for playing music on an amateur radio repeater! If that were not enough of an example, invariably, the motorist will receive the licence for his instrument of death back years before a radio amateur will be legally allowed to use his radio again. What's all that about then?

In Perspective

Don't get any wrong ideas about the likelihood of being prosecuted for any contravention of The WT Act 1949, bare in mind that more people have walked on the moon than LPWS members have been prosecuted. I think that puts it into an easily understood form.
Judging by their own figures, the over zealous interest in prosecuting Radio Amateurs seems to have all but been stopped since Ofcom took over and the idiots from the R.I.S. were found sensible jobs, only 1 prosecution since 2002!

Sadly, Ofcom seem to have either stopped prosecuting anyone, or stopped publishing the results, also their press releases are very few and far between and no longer seem to cover unlicensed transmissions or radio amateurs etc. Where the old Radiocommunications Agency zealously chased people about the countryside, often at weekends and in the dead of night (overtime?) Ofcom are conspicuous by their absence. 

Below are the most recent published figures, when we get some spare time we might put in a "Freedom Of Information" enquiry.

Prosecution Cases - Financial Year 2006/07

Categories	Persons prosecuted	Persons convicted	Fines imposed (£)	Costs awarded (£)	Forfeiture orders	Conditional discharges	Absolute discharges	Official cautions	Warning letters sent
Illegal Broadcasting	61	61	6,845.00	20,889.50	42	31	1	10	31
Citizens Band (CB)	1	1	50.00	0.00	1	0	0	0	0
EMC	1	1	2,000.00	3,000.00	1	0	0	0	1
RTTE	5	5	9,500.00	12,100.00	3	1	0	7	22
Cordless Phones	0	0	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	7	6
Amateur radio	0	0	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	1
Private Business Radio	0	0	0.00	00.00	0	0	0	5	16
Others	Hoax 1 *	1	700.00	0.00	1	0	0	1	7
TOTAL	70	70	19,095.00	35,989.50	48	32	1	30	84

*  Coastal Station Radio

Prosecution Cases - Financial Year 2005/06

Categories	Persons prosecuted	Persons convicted	Fines imposed (£)	Costs awarded (£)	Forfeiture orders	Conditional discharges	Absolute discharges	Official cautions	Warning letters sent
Illegal Broadcasting	52	52	3,864.00	9,400.00	37	17	0	6	35
Citizens Band (CB)	0	0	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	1	1
EMC	1	1	2,000.00	2,000.00	0	1	0	3	0
RTTE	2	2	2,000.00	1,100.00	1	1	0	11	52
Cordless Phones	0	0	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	0	3
Amateur radio	0	0	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	1	3
Private Business Radio	8	8	700.00	1,750.00	2	0	0	13	4
Marine	1	1	0.00	200.00	1	0	0	0	0
Illegal 6.6MHz use	0	0	0.00	0.00	0	0	0	2	0
Others	1	1	500.00	2,072.00	0	0	0	11	13
TOTAL	65	65	9,064.00	16,522.00	41	19	0	48	111

Prosecution Cases - Financial Year 2004/05

Categories	Persons prosecuted	Person convicted	Fines imposed (£)	Costs awarded (£)	Forfeiture Orders	Conditional discharges	Absolute discharges	Admonishments (Scotland)	Official Cautions	Warning letters sent
Illegal Broadcasting	40	40	8740.00	31,091.57	22	20	0	1	10	10
Citizens Band (CB)	2	2	100	1,700.00	2	2	0	0	1	3
RTTE Regulations	1	1	0	1,260.00	1	1	0	0	11	21
RTTE Regulations (Forfeiture)	0	0	0	2,000.00	0	0	0	0	0	0
Amateur Radio	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Private Business Radio	3	3	2,250.00	5,702.50	0	0	0	0	7	4
Marine Radio	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Illegal 6.6MHz Use	1	1	300.00	200.00	0	0	0	0	0	0
Hoax Message	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	5
TOTAL	48	48	11,390.00	41,954.07	26	23	0	1	33	46

Prosecution Cases - Financial Year 2003/04

Categories	Persons prosecuted	Person convicted	Fines imposed (£)	Costs awarded (£)	Forfeiture Orders	Conditional discharges	Absolute discharges	Admonishments (Scotland)	Official Cautions	Warning letters sent
CB - not licensable	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
CB - licensable	1	1	150	110	1	0	0	0	1	1
pirate radio	48	48	15900	22096.43	41	16	0	5	6	19
cordless telephones	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
PMR	1	1	2	300	0	1	0	0	12	1
Amateur	1	1	150	100	0	0	0	0	1	3
marine	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	10	0
6.6 MHz	1	1	0	500	1	1	0	0	0	0
others	3	3	4000	5960	3	2	0	0	2	4
TOTAL	55	55	20200	29066.43	46	20	0	5	23	31

Prosecution Cases - Financial Year 2002/03

Categories	Persons prosecuted	Person convicted	Fines imposed (£)	Costs awarded (£)	Forfeiture Orders	Conditional discharges	Absolute discharges	Admonishments (Scotland)	Official Cautions	Warning letters sent
CB - not licensable	6	6	1000	750	3	3	0	0	3	4
CB - licensable	6	6	400	620	1	1	0	0	10	0
pirate radio	56	56	6,475	12,893	43	19	0	2	9	42
cordless telephones	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
PMR	2	2	1300	540	1	0	0	0	8	2
Amateur	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
marine	2	2	100	450	0	1	0	0	10	0
6.6 MHz	2	2	3,400	250	1	0	0	0	0	0
others	7	7	4,200	12,760	6	2	0	0	7	5
TOTAL	55	55	20200	29066.43	46	20	0	5	23	31