FIVE members of a Bradford family have narrowly escaped going to prison for their role in a £500,000 counterfeit clothing conspiracy that breached the trademarks of bands including the Arctic Monkeys and Motorhead.

Amar Choudry, 38, of Linton Drive, Heaton, Bradford; Yasir Choudry, 30, and Qaisar Choudry, 28, of Duchy Crescent, Heaton; Faisal Choudry, 37, of Duchy Drive, Heaton; and Mudasar Alishan, 40, of Oakdale Drive, Shipley, were each sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years. They were also ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work.

The sentence followed a two year investigation into the online sale of counterfeit clothing.

Stephen Carr, 42, of Carr Lane, Riddlesden, Keighley, a supplier of counterfeit, branded heat transfers to the family, was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, for his role in the conspiracy. He must complete 180 hours of unpaid work.

The case was brought by West Yorkshire Trading Standards following a tip-off by private investigators Surelock International who represent leading brands.

An investigation followed into an industrial-scale screen printing operation in which the registered trademarks of leading music artists, bands and sports teams were illegally printed on to clothing and distributed globally.

Using a number of eBay and Amazon user accounts, in both their own and third party names, including those of their family members, the extended family generated counterfeit sales of £472,898 over a five year period.

The printing took place at the family business YMC Clothing Ltd, in Thornton Road Bradford, which used the trading style Fresh and Funky.

The proceeds were then used to purchase a number of properties and high value motor vehicles. The trademarks breached included Arctic Monkeys, The 1975, Motorhead, Ramones, Beyonce, 5 Seconds of Summer, Harry Potter, Ed Sheeran and Nirvana.

Judge Colin Burn described the offending as a “well organised fraud with the backing of a legitimate company.”

Yasir and Qaisar Choudry were banned as directors of limited companies for three years.

Proceeds of Crime Act proceedings will now be undertaken to recover the total extent of their benefit from their offending.

After the case, David Lodge, Head of Trading Standards, said: “The trade in counterfeit goods is not a victimless crime, it impacts directly on UK jobs and the high street.This service will continue to bring to justice those individuals seeking to benefit from the theft of intellectual property and take away the assets accrued through criminal conduct."