Arrested in 2019 following an investigation by the UK’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit, the former owner of pirate IPTV service Helix Hosting has just been sentenced to three years in prison by a court in the UK. Stephen Woodward, 36, reportedly generated around £1 million in revenue from three services, with offending that reportedly continued after his initial arrest.
As the Kodi ‘addon’ boom scooped up millions of new recruits and Amazon’s ‘Fire TV Stick’ sold out as a result, in 2015, a new wave of casual ‘living room’ pirates were ready for the next big thing.
The leap from free but oftentimes unreliable web-based streaming, to cheap and much more reliable illegal IPTV services, was smaller than ever and suppliers were ready to make the transition go as smoothly as possible.
A Gap Appears in the Market
There’s no doubt that small fortunes were being made around 2016 to 2018. Some pirate IPTV suppliers were clearly making very large fortunes, only to lose those fortunes even more dramatically.
After quickly becoming the largest pirate IPTV provider in the UK, May 22, 2018, marked the beginning of the end for the now infamous Flawless TV. Following the initial raids and eventual sentencing of the group in 2023, prison sentences of more than 30 years put millions in alleged profits into sharp perspective, at least in hindsight.
While Flawless wasn’t quite finished, there was gap in the market for a UK supplier and plenty of unmet demand. In the weeks and potentially just days prior to May 22, a new service called Helix Hosting was being prepared. Operating initially from HelixHosting.ninja and later HelixHosting.xyz, the opening offer was just £5 per month.
On one hand, 3PM kick-off Premier League matches are a guaranteed crowd-pleasing money-spinner. On the other, they’re also the best way to attract a criminal investigation by the Premier League, broadcaster Sky, the Federation Against Copyright Theft, and ultimately the police.
Busted – November 2019
In an announcement on Friday, the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) provides a detailed explanation for the sudden disappearance of Helix Hosting several years ago, and the fate of now 36-year-old Helix owner Stephen Woodward of Thirsk, North Yorkshire.
PIPCU’s background includes details of two other services operated by Woodward; Black and White TV and another called IPTV Hosting. PIPCU reports that the latter advertised itself as the first IPTV provider with more than 4,500 channels, including Sky Sports and BT Sports, with subscriptions sold direct to viewers and via resellers.
An investigation revealed that Woodward operated 13 PayPal accounts, with received funds converted into cryptocurrency, then converted back into fiat currency, before being deposited across 23 bank accounts to disguise the source.
“Officers from PIPCU arrested Stephen in November 2019 and searched his home address. They seized a computer, hard drive and nine phones, as well as £4,760 in cash found in a desk drawer in his living room,” PIPCU reports.
“Around 100 envelopes, each containing a SIM card with a name written on it, were also seized. Stephen used the SIM cards to help open PayPal and bank accounts using false identities he had bought online.”
Released Under Investigation
After Stephen Woodward was released under investigation following his arrest in November 2019, in connection with IPTV Hosting, police uncovered conversations with Stephen’s younger brother, Christopher, now 34.
“In his messages to Christopher, Stephen said that he was making £100,000 a month through illegal streaming. Stephen used the funds to buy designer jewelry and clothes, holidays and a Jaguar F-Type V8 coupe worth £91,000,” PIPCU reports.
At this point the police timeline seems to clash with public records. While the fact remains that Woodward was clearly behind the illegal sites, the details of how that played out may cause confusion. The suggestion is that Helix was launched after Stephen’s arrest in November 2019 in connection with IPTV Hosting, a service that until now hadn’t appeared on our radar.
“In 2020, while the investigation into IPTV Hosting was underway, officers were alerted by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) that Stephen had started running two further illegal streaming websites, Black and White TV and Helix Hosting. The websites provided illegal access to watch Premier League matches, as well as over 6,500 channels from around the world,” the statement reads.
Helix actually launched mid to late May 2018, with the first public announcement made by Woodward recorded as June 2, 2018; it appears on the same page as the June 18 screenshot shown above and again in a June 11, 2018, archive capture available here.
The details concerning Black and White TV are less clear; however, at the time the service was advertised as a replacement or stand-in service for Helix, with no obvious attempt to hide common ownership.
After Stephen was arrested in November 2019, a month later a notice appeared on the Helix website claiming that the service had been hacked. Since Helix had reportedly failed to pay a ransom, the notice continued, the personal details of customers and resellers, plus an owner’s name, address and phone number, would be leaked online.
Whether those details were actually leaked remains unconfirmed.
Arrested Again….and Again
“Officers from PIPCU arrested Stephen for the second time and searched his home address in July 2020,” PIPCU reports.
“He told officers that ‘the cash is in the same place as last time’, referring to the desk drawer in his living room, from which around £28,600 in cash was seized. He was released under investigation,” PIPCU adds.
In November 2020, Stephen was arrested yet again, this time by British Transport Police (BTP). Before boarding a train from his hometown of Thirsk to Kings Cross station in London, a member of station staff reportedly saw Stephen place a carrier bag behind a grit bin.
“The staff member checked the contents of the bag and, upon finding it contained £20,000, alerted BTP. BTP officers searched Stephen’s address later that day and seized an envelope containing £1,770 in cash hidden in the loft. They seized a further £380 from Stephen.”
Stephen traveled on the train to London and was arrested at Kings Cross on suspicion of money laundering. Two years later in October 2022, he was detained by Border Force Officers at Gatwick airport while attempting to board a flight to Vancouver. Almost £11,000 in cash was seized from his luggage.
PIPCU investigators secured an “all-assets restraint order” targeting £1.1 million in 15 bank accounts and 21 cryptocurrency wallets, while £144,121 in previously-seized cash was frozen.
Brothers Plead Guilty
On February 21, 2025, Stephen pleaded guilty to distributing articles infringing copyright plus four money laundering offenses in connection with £1 million generated by his services. On the same day his brother Christopher pleaded guilty to money laundering after receiving £126,000.
At York Crown Court last Friday (July 11, 2025), Stephen was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. Christopher was sentenced to 15 months in prison, suspended for 12 months. He must also complete 240 hours of unpaid work.
“Stephen was brazen in running his illegal streaming websites. Despite being the subject of a criminal investigation, he had clearly not learned his lesson and yet again attempted to gain financially from his illegal activity,” says Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt at PIPCU.
“His sentencing and upcoming confiscation proceedings should send a message that there are significant consequences for criminals who enable illegal access to copyrighted content.”
Kieron Sharp at the Federation Against Copyright Theft welcomed the sentences.
“This investigation and the outcome underline that illegal streaming is not a victimless crime. It harms the creative economy and funds criminality. FACT commends the work of PIPCU in bringing this long-running case to justice,” he said.
Source: 
TorrentFreak.com
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