Ticket touting operation run from Norfolk 'mocked customers'

One customer was referred to as “another idiot” after they bought two tickets for West End hit Harry Potter And The Cursed Child for £535 each, when the face-value price was around £120, Leeds Crown Court heard.

TQ Tickets Ltd, owned by Maria Chenery-Woods, 54, of Ipswich Road, Dickleburgh, used multiple identities, some of which were fake, to buy up large amounts of tickets for artists such as Ed Sheeran on primary sites and re-sell them on secondary platforms.

Tickets to see Ed Sheeran were sold at more than double the face value, the court was told (Image: PA)

READ MORE: Ed Sheeran and Little Mix fans 'targeted in £6.5m ticket fraud'

Chenery-Woods and Paul Douglas, 56, of Ipswich Road in Pulham Market, who referred to themselves as the Ticket Queen and Ticket Boy respectively, have pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading.

Their respective spouses, Mark Woods, 59, and Lynda Chenery, 51, who is also Chenery-Woods’ sister, are on trial and have denied the charges.

The jury has heard how the "greedy and dishonest" operation had sales in excess of £6.5m between June 2015 and December 2017.

Jonathan Sandiford KC, prosecuting, said the firm bought 47,000 tickets during that period, using 127 names, 187 different email addresses and 200 different postal addresses.

Tickets for West End hit Harry Potter And The Cursed Child were sold for £535 each (Image: PA)

He showed the jury messages which he said were examples of the inflated prices the firm charged on secondary platforms.

“This was all about milking customers for profit – ripping them off, in effect,” he added.

In one exchange, Douglas tells Chenery he has just sold two tickets to the Last Night Of The Proms for £462 each. He then says these are “47 quid tickets”.

READ MORE: ‘Clear rules’ needed to stop ticket touts ripping off sport and music fans

In another, Douglas discussed selling two tickets to an Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko boxing event at Wembley Stadium for £220 each, and saying the face-value price was £60.

Tickets to see Anthony Joshua versus Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley Stadium were sold for £220 each despite a £60 face-value (Image: PA)

Mr Sandiford said the jury would hear a statement from Ed Sheeran’s promoter, Stuart Galbraith, which stated that he had a strict policy on that tour of limiting ticket prices to between £50 and £80.

The prosecutor said TQ Tickets Ltd had sold dozens at more than double the face value.

Mr Sandiford said the fact that Chenery-Woods and Douglas had pleaded guilty meant that there was “no dispute that the fraudulent scheme exists”.

The trial continues.