Wimbledon ticket tout given final chance to avoid prison sentence

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A Wimbledon ticket tout has been told by a High Court judge that he will be jailed for four months unless he discloses details of his associates.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which runs the tennis tournament, took out an injunction against Oliver Hardiman last July, as part of efforts to combat touting.

It asked the High Court to send Mr Hardiman to prison last December, after he breached the order by entering the site of the grand slam championship and failing to disclose details of other touts.

His barristers said that he should be fined or given a suspended sentence.

In a ruling on Tuesday, Mr Justice Morris said that an immediate prison sentence was “appropriate”, but gave Mr Hardiman a final chance to “purge” his contempt by sharing details of his associates later this month.

He said: “I conclude that an immediate custodial sentence is the appropriate sentence in this case.

“I will give, however, the defendant one final short opportunity to reconsider his position to purge his contempt.”

Speaking to Mr Hardiman directly, he added: “I have given you one final opportunity to think again.

“You will have until April 26 to provide the information. If you do, then subject to anything the claimants have to say, it is likely you will not be going immediately to prison.

“If you don’t provide the information, you will.”

The judge said that the sentence would be suspended until a hearing on April 30.

Mr Hardiman, who was supported by his partner in court, was also ordered to pay more than £19,000 in costs, which he must pay by that date.

A different High Court judge issued the injunction against Mr Hardiman in July last year.

It barred him from unlawfully trading tickets for Wimbledon and from being within the vicinity of the club’s premises during the 2023 tournament, while also obliging him to share details of his associates within 24 hours.

But Mr Hardiman was later found touting tickets to people queueing to get into the site in south-west London, and no information about other touts was provided.

After the club applied for him to be jailed, he admitted being in contempt of court in February this year but was offered the chance to “purge” his contempt, and avoid potential custody, by sharing the required information and otherwise complying with the order.

In a hearing in London last month, barrister Edward Rowntree, representing the club, said this had not happened and Mr Hardiman had “knowingly and consciously” failed to comply.

He said Mr Hardiman should be jailed, adding that touting “puts people off” the sport.

Kevin Saunders, representing Mr Hardiman, said that his client was initially willing to disclose information.

But he said this “evaporated” after press coverage of his case, in which he was described as a “tout supergrass”.

Mr Saunders said the “reckless” and “erroneous” reporting led to Mr Hardiman being told to stay silent by other touts and had caused him to suffer “shame, vilification, abuse and marginalisation”.

In his judgment, Mr Justice Morris dismissed this claim, saying: “The message cannot be that the court will step back from imposing the sanction that it would have otherwise imposed by reason of abuse from third parties.

“Neither the terms of the press reporting nor any abuse the defendant may have received since then is a good reason to suspend a custodial sentence.”

Sporting bodies can take out injunctions against those selling tickets on unregulated secondary markets.

Standard tickets for Wimbledon are issued through a strictly controlled ballot run by the club and cannot be transferred, and visitors are required to show photographic ID alongside their ticket when entering.

Debenture seats – seats on Centre Court or No 1 Court which can be used for five years – can legally be transferred or sold.