A MAN was jailed and his wife narrowly avoided prison after they admitted selling counterfeit shirts bearing the logos of football clubs as well as rock and pop bands.

Andrew and Jayne Jones sold items from their home in Tone Road, Bettws, Newport, through two eBay accounts - Mr T-Shirts and Calamity Jane.

Judge William Gaskell was told they generated approaching £160,000 in trade over a period of around three-and-a-half years.

The Joneses pleaded guilty to eight charges of selling counterfeit goods - relating to specific items as test purchases - and a further eight charges of possessing such items, found when a search warrant was executed.

Prosecuting counsel Lee Reynolds told Cardiff Crown Court trademark holders confirmed that seized items were counterfeit, and the aforementioned figures were reached through transaction data analysis.

Counterfeit items included football shirts and t-shirts bearing the colours and insignia of clubs such as Stoke City, West Ham United and Aston Villa, and the logos of artists like Ed Sheeran, Bon Jovi and Arctic Monkeys.

Mr Reynolds said inquiries were initially carried out by trading standards officers in Newport, in relation to the Calamity Jayne account, and test purchases established too that the Mr T-Shirts account was still running.

Andrew Jones, 56, was fined in 2013 in relation to offences of selling counterfeit material, linked to that account. Mrs Jones, 47, was, unusually, present at her husband’s police interview about those offences, “and therefore was fully aware of the allegations levelled at him,” said Mr Reynolds.

The latest offences came initially through Calamity Jayne, before the Mr T-Shirts account was used again.

Christopher Rees, defending Andrew Jones, disputed that the figures quoted represented earnings from counterfeit sales only.

Eugene Egan, defending Jayne Jones, said a probation report refers to her “obvious remorse.”

Judge Gaskell sentenced Andrew Jones to six months in prison, and Jayne Jones to the same term, suspended for two years. She must also complete a rehabilitation activity requirement of 40 hours, and 200 hours of unpaid work.

He told them: “Courts have a duty to protect the owners of trademarks, and sentences must contain an element of deterrence.”

He added that Andrew Jones had fair warning of the seriousness of such offences through his previous conviction.