A SHOPKEEPER in Burnley who had pirate copies of 230 films has been placed under a curfew by magistrates.

Hollywood blockbusters The Wolf of Wall Street and 12 Years A Slave were among the DVD haul uncovered by Lancashire trading standards officials at Ehtishan Sajjad’s store, in Colne Road, the Burnley court was told.

Consumer watchdogs say this is the second time Sajjad, of Percy Street, Nelson, has been caught with fake films.

The 35-year-old father-of-three admitted knowingly being party to a business carried on for a fraudulent purpose. He also confessed to five offences of possessing DVDs with counterfeit trademarks and an offence involving an unclassified disc, contrary to the Video Recordings Act.

Magistrates sentenced him to a three-month curfew order, from 7pm to 6am, and ordered him to pay £600 in court costs.

The court heard that DVDs were found during an inspection on January 23, but Sajjad, who was behind the counter, insisted he was only there to collect some personal belongings and no longer owned the business.

But the court was told that he had also been seen serving at the shop a month earlier and had sold copied DVDs to an undercover officer only a week after the inspection.

Some of the titles were so recent that they had not even been granted age classification certificates to allow them to be viewed in the UK.

Sajjad claimed he had sold his business to another man, after being initially caught for similar offences in 2012.

But by early 2014, because of financial pressures, he had returned to his old ways.

Speaking after the case, Nick McNamara, trading standards prosecutor, said: "We have long been aware of the trade in copied discs at this shop and this is the second time Sajjad has found himself in court as a result.

“Counterfeiters pay no taxes, no royalties and no attention to the harm they do to other shopkeepers."