Ofcom Scalps Its First Pirate

Ofcom has sent a shot across the bows of pirate radio operators by successfully bringing its first prosecution.

Cecil Morris, seemingly dubbed by the mainstream media - “the prime mover” - behind Birmingham-based People’s Community Radio Link (PCRL), recieved a three year suspended jail sentence, was fined �3,000 and ordered to pay �5,000 costs after a jury at Birmingham Crown Court found him guilty of conspiring to manage, finance and operate the unauthorised station. He had denied two conspiracy charges brought by Ofcom.

The station’s transmissions apparently rendered messages between local fire crews and controllers unintelligible, leaving firefighters without any proper communication and potentially putting lives at risk.

Ofcom has vowed to tackle pirates with the same vigour as the Radiocommunications Agency did under the previous remit. And Ofcom’s annual report highlights the strength of its committment in this area with its Field Engineering team deployed across the UK to manage local assignments, investigate and resolve interference issues and undertake enforcement actions. Someone once told me that the tool of regulation in this area was a sledgehammer.

Based on previous years the Field Engineering team will carry out around 800-1,000 raids on pirate radio stations and investigate around 2,000 domestic interference cases in each year.