A PIRATE DVD maker who leafleted a town to sell his fakes was given a suspended jail sentence.

Debt-ridden Robert Edward Jackson, 41, advertised his DVD Direct business offering films for £4 each or six for £20.

Stockton Borough Council's trading standards department received an anonymous complaint and an investigator placed a phone order.

Jackson turned up to deliver six DVDs at a meeting outside the Red Lion pub, in Norton, and his vehicle registration number was noted.

The department then applied for a warrant to search his home on December 7, 2005, where they discovered a copying factory.

There were two computers, DVD rewriters and hardware, and numerous discs.

Jackson appeared at Teesside Crown Court, in Middlesbrough, yesterday.

The court heard it was not Jackson's first venture into DVD piracy. Yvonne Taylor, prosecuting, said that a year earlier, the Department of Work and Pensions clerk had been cautioned after admitting nine similar offences.

Harvey Murray, mitigating, said that father-of-four Jackson set up the business to pay off debts of £40,000.

Mr Murray said: "He accepts that he had a DVD copying factory, and he estimates that for the four months that he operated, his actual profits were some £2,400, or £600 a month.

"He is very remorseful because it is his partner and family who will suffer."

Judge James Spencer told Jackson: "You saw it as an easy way to make money and, of course, this sort of thing has to be stopped otherwise people are going to be defrauded."

Jackson, of Acklam Road, Middlesbrough, was given a nine-month jail sentence suspended for two years with probation supervision.

He pleaded guilty to fifteen offences under Trade Marks, Copyright and Trade Descriptions legislation.

The judge added: "One thing is certain, if you commit any other offences of this kind, or any other offences punishable by imprisonment, you will serve the sentence."

Trading standards manager David Kitching said: "Mr Jackson had an organised, well-planned and financially lucrative counterfeiting business.

"The local economy suffers the effects of counterfeit production. Legitimate businesses can be affected by reduced profits, which can result in lower wages, lost jobs and reduce opportunities for future growth."