Cyber-Ticket Touting as Fraudulent Trading
| Author | Dennis Baker |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00220183221107544 |
| Published date | 01 October 2022 |
| Date | 01 October 2022 |
Cyber-TicketToutingasFraudulent
Trading
DennisBaker
DeMontfortUniversity,Leicester,UK
Abstract
ThisnoteexaminesthecaseofRvHunterandarguesthattheoffenceoffraudulenttrading
requiresthebusinessitselftobeusedasaninstrumentoffraud.Itissubmittedthatthisoffence
isafinancialoffencefoundintheCompanyAct2006(withacorrespondingoffenceintheFraud
Act2006),becauseanintegralaspectofabusinessisthatitgeneratesprofitsoratleastits
raisond’êtreistogenerateprofit.Manybusinessesrunataloss,butthatisnottheraison
d’êtreofabusiness.Ifitisacceptedthatitisthebusinessitselfthatneedstobetheinstrument
offraud,thenthereisnoneedtoconsidertheelementsoftheincidentalfrauds(falserepre-
sentations,deceptionetc)usedbythatbusinesstomaintainitselfasaninstrumentoffraud.Itis
alsosubmittedthatthedecisioninRvHunteriserroneoustotheextentitsuggeststhatwilful
blindnessissufficientmensrea.
Keywords
Trading,fraudulent,criminallaw,law,mentalelement
Introduction
ThispaperwilllookattherecentcaseofRvHunter
1
(Green,LJ,deliveredthejudgmentoftheCourt,in
whichMacur,LJandCheema-GrubbJ,concurred)whichraisedquestionsabouttheapplicationofthe
offenceoffraudulenttradingtocommercialscalecyber-touting.Theuseofbotsandalgorithmsto
deceivecomputersinto“bulkselling”ticketsthatarenotfor“bulksale”couldbebroughtwithinthe
purviewoftheoffencesfoundinss1and2oftheComputerMisuseAct1990,
2
butthatapproachhas
notthusfarbeentaken.Thereareplethoraofoffencescriminalisingtickettoutingitselfsuchass166
oftheCriminalJusticeandPublicOrderAct1994andTheTicketTouting(DesignationofFootball
Matches)Order2007.Thirdpartiesarealsoproscribedfromrunningadvertisementsfortickettouts(s
Correspondingauthor:
DennisBaker,DeMontfortUniversity,Leicester,UK.
E-mail:dennis.baker@dmu.ac.uk
1.[2021]EWCACrim1785.
2.HunterandSmithused“bots”andfalseinformationtocircumventcomputercodeontheprimaryticketsellers’computerswhich
aimedtopreventbulkpurchases.Theysurreptitiouslyobtainedticketsinbulkandresoldthemandknewfullwellthatprimary
ticketvendorswereonlysellingduetothebotsdeceivingtheircomputers.
Comment
TheJournalofCriminalLaw
2022,Vol.86(5)353–363
©TheAuthor(s)2022
Articlereuseguidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI:10.1177/00220183221107544
journals.sagepub.com/home/clj
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