A man made £120,000 by selling codes to illegally access Sky TV channels.

Gavin Gray, from Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, illegally sold decryption codes for channels including Sky Sports and Sky Movies.

He had been given the codes for his own personal use, but sold them to a list of 1800 clients who paid £5 a month over a four-year period.

Police found £44,500 which was hidden in a safe in the loft before a further £80,000 was seized from his bank account.

The 27-year-old advertised his criminal business on dedicated card sharing websites and forums.

Prosecutors said he was the first person to be convicted of card-sharing, having pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and offences under the Copyright Designs Patents Act 1988.

He was sentenced to a 12-month Restriction of Liberty Order and a Community Payback Order with 300 hours of unpaid work.

A confiscation order for £128,670 was granted at Hamilton Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

Liam Murphy, procurator fiscal for specialist casework, said: "Gray operated a large-scale card sharing scheme which defrauded a broadcaster out of more than a million pounds over four years.

"Today's result should serve as a warning to all criminals. We will not stop at prosecution.

"We will use the laws available to us to ensure money obtained through crime is confiscated from those who do not deserve it and reinvested into the community."