An alleged tout who said he would rather go to prison than “grass up” his boss, who prosecutors claim is a reality TV star, has been handed a six-month suspended prison sentence over the sale of Wimbledon tickets.
The court heard that the All England Lawn Tennis Club had claimed “on good evidence” that defendant Luke McKay was touting Wimbledon tickets on behalf of Greg Shepherd.
Shepherd is a regular on ITV show Sam and Billie Faiers: The Mummy Diaries, alongside wife Billie who rose to prominence on The Only Way Is Essex.
McKay was handed the suspended sentence after refusing to comply with a court order obtained by the club, demanding that he hand over details of past transactions, as well as the names of his business associates.
The sentence will be suspended for 14 days to give him the chance to comply but McKay indicated during the civil proceedings that he was not willing to do so.
“I know I’m going to prison, I just have to face it,” he said. “I can’t be known as a grass, your honour.”
Court documents show that the All England Lawn Tennis Club obtained the court order after carrying out a sting operation, in which its agents posed as potential buyers of Wimbledon tickets.
They claim McKay, using the pseudonym Peter Raven, sold them tickets and told them he was doing so on behalf of Greg Shepherd.
Mr Justice Freedman said: “There was a reference to someone called Greg Shepherd, who the claimant believed on good evidence has been involved in ticket touting along with the defendant.
“There is some suggestion he may have been the defendant’s boss.
“He [McKay] has made it clear he is unwilling to comply because he says he is not willing to identify a third party involved in ticket touting. I apprehend that to be Mr Shepherd.”
“He says he would rather go to prison than be a grass. That’s his choice.”
“It’s to be borne in mind that ticket touting is a detrimental activity, not just to the claimant but to members of the public who want to watch tennis but can’t get tickets because they’re in the hands of ticket touts.
“It also causes financial loss to the claimant, who is a non-profit organisation.”
A representative of Shepherd did not return multiple requests for comment about his alleged involvement in ticket touting.
In 2012, he was named in an investigation by the Daily Mirror into the resale of football tickets, which is illegal under English law.
His uncle Terry Shepherd was jailed in 2011 for a £4.5m scam targeting the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which saw swimmer Rebecca Adlington’s parents miss out on her gold medal swim.
His aunt Margaret Canty-Shepherd was revealed by the Guardian earlier this year to be among the people named on tickets website Viagogo as trading over 100 tickets per year.
Greg Shepherd is also understood to be related to Gary Shepherd, who was the subject of a high court injunction obtained by Chelsea Football Club to prevent touting of matchday tickets.
A spokesperson for the All England Lawn Tennis Club said: “The AELTC has, for many years, monitored the secondary ticket market and, where necessary, undertakes test purchases from suspected ticket touts with a view to obtaining court orders to stop those touts from continuing their infringing activities.”
“The primary aim is to ensure that those court orders are complied with and anyone who deliberately flouts an order is potentially committing a contempt of court and if they do so the AELTC will bring those breaches to the attention of the court through committal proceedings.
“The punishment for contempt of court is a matter for the courts and public policy.”
