Maldon: Thousands of CDs and cassettes discovered in shed, court told

And a court also heard how two of the men allegedly involved in a music scam visited a court to see the trial of a man facing similar charges.

Another member of the gang was found to have newspaper cuttings of similar cases which were aimed at preventing police from seizing his stock of CDs if he was ever stopped.

The claims were made by David Groome, prosecuting two Essex men accused of conspiracy to defraud by infringing strict music copyrights.

Alan Williams, 39, of Wentworth Meadows, Maldon, and 45-year-old Raymond Coppen, of Chestnut Avenue, Hatfield Peverel, deny the charge.

Chelmsford Crown Court has heard how the two men netted between £500,000 and £1 million through the scheme.

More than 55,000 compact discs, 1,200 cassette tapes and 200,000 pieces of artwork and packaging were discovered at a former chicken shed near Maldon after a swoop by police and trading standards officers.

The CDs and tapes had been imported from Europe and the United States with the vast majority of them in breach of music copyright laws.

Mr Groome alleged Williams was the leader of a gang which hired a former chicken shed at Jacob's Farm in Goldhanger Lane, Heybridge, and began importing illicit tapes.

In June 1997, police and trading standards officers found "an Aladdin's Cave" of property when they raided the lock-up, Mr Groome told the jury.

Most of the tapes and CDs - including albums by The Beatles and ABBA - had been illicitly produced overseas and then shipped into Britain, the court heard.

Mr Groome said Williams and Coppen were buying the CDs for a dollar - about 80p - and were selling them for £7 wholesale and £12 retail.

"Not one penny went to the composer, artist or the record company," Mr Groome said. "Not only were they being ripped off, but the public were being ripped off as well."

The trial continues.

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