Sports fans were conned into spending thousands of pounds on forged autographs of their heroes, including a fake Michael Owen cup final shirt and signed photographs of David Beckham and Jonny Wilkinson, Chester Crown Court was told yesterday.

Sporting Icons, a company based in Chester, “ripped off” hundreds of people who bought items that they thought were valuable memorabilia but were actually worthless fakes, the jury heard.

Forgeries included signed photographs of Wilkinson drop-kicking the World Cup winning goal, cup-winning shirts worn by Owen and Ian Rush and poorly made replicas of England international caps.

They were sold by Graeme Walker, 45, who ran the Sporting Icons store in Chester and on eBay, the internet auction site, and were supplied by-Faisal Madani.

Mr Walker, of Connah’s Quay, Deeside, denies more than 50 specimen charges of fraudulent trading and supplying goods bearing false trade descriptions and goods bearing false trademarks. Mr Madani, 43, of Bramhall, Greater Manchester, also denies fraud.

An elite group of sportsmen including Owen, Rush, Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard, are expected to appear as witnesses next week. A handwriting expert has also identified 107 forgeries.

The jury was told that a shirt advertised as the one worn by Owen for Liverpool in the 2003 Worthington Cup Final could not be genuine. The player will tell the jury that the real article is still in his home.

Andrew Thomas, QC, for the prosecution, said: “The defendants were selling effectively worthless items to members of the public. Customers paid premium prices, hundreds or even thousands of pounds, in the belief that they were buying genuine goods, such as the items autographed by their sporting heroes. They betrayed the trust of the public. In short, the prosecution say the defendants were ripping fans off.”

An investigation by trading standards officers revealed that a batch of football caps advertised as genuine originals presented by the Football Association as representative honours were also forgeries. One customer was assured that one had been given to Tony Woodcock for playing against Luxembourg in 1982.

“The sale of such goods is, of course, damaging to the interest of the clubs and players concerned,” Mr Thomas said. “It is also damaging more generally to the legitimate trade in autographed memorabilia by casting doubt on the integrity of the whole industry. However, most of all it is the ordinary sports fans who are the losers.”

Trading standards officers, who raided the premises on two occasions, made a film that showed the walls of the shop covered with framed memorabilia from the pop music and film industry as well as from sport. There were valuable items purporting to be signed by Rock Hudson, the Beatles, Laurel and Hardy, the Queen, Muham-mad Ali and Sylvester Stallone.

Altogether, officers either bought or seized 197 items, which the prosecution claims are forgeries.

Mr Thomas said that their investigation had to be restricted to domestic sport, principally Manchester United and Liverpool, because it would have been impossible to track down all of the international stars or their representative bodies to establish authenticity.

In the Sporting Icons office investigators found pens and unsigned items which, the prosecution claimed, were waiting either for Mr Walker to complete with a forged signature or for his representative. Investigators also found evidence of somebody practising the signatures of Pelé, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Despite the raid the company continued to trade and, the prosecution suggests, continued to cheat their customers.

In one of a number of test purchases an undercover investigator bought for £225 an England rugby shirt purportedly signed by Jonny Wilkinson. The jury was told that the rugby star has viewed the item and concluded that it was fake because he only signs shirts with a dedication.

Mr Thomas said that, at the very least, alarm bells should have been ringing that the goods passed on to the businessmen were questionable.

In 2002 Mr Madani was forced to pay £10,000 and pledge a further £7,000 a month to the late George Best after he was caught selling fake autographs.

There were serious questions raised on websites about the authenticity of David Beckham’s signature and similar queries from Jonny Wilkinson’s handlers were met by Mr Walker with a threat of legal action.

When interviewed by police Mr Madani admitted that he kept no paperwork for his deal. He paid cash to two former security guards at Old Trafford who were said to persuade former colleagues to get players’ signatures.

“These are backdoor methods of getting signatures,” Mr Thomas said.

The trial continues.

Counterfeit souvenir charges

Mr Madani faces 20 counts, including:

Count 48 supplying of goods to which a false trade description was applied, namely, a photo signed by Alex Ferguson;
Count 50 supplying three photos signed by Ruud van Nistelrooy;
Count 53 supplying photo signed by Steven Gerrard;
Count 56 supplying pictures signed by Ian Rush, Steven Gerrard and others;
Count 58 supplying European Cup winners’ shirt with Ian Rush’s signature;
Count 60 supplying a photo of Roy Keane and Alex Ferguson.

Mr Walker and Sporting Icons Ltd face 54 counts, including:

Count 16 supplying an unauthorised trademark, the FA crest, on a cap;
Count 29 offering to supply goods to which a false trade description was applied, namely 16 canvas prints signed by Jonny Wilkinson;
Count 30 offering rugby shirt signed by Jonny Wilkinson;
Count 34 offering 19 England armbands, some with Michael Owen’s signature;
Counts 46, 47, 49 offering to supply photos signed by Ian Rush and Alex Ferguson;
Count 51 offering three photos signed by Ruud van Nistelrooy;
Counts 52, 54 offering pictures signed by Steven Gerrard;
Count 62 offering football shirt with the signatures of Roy Keane, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Cristiano Ronaldo;
Count 64 possession of goods bearing an unauthorised trade mark, namely eight framed Manchester United shirts;
Count 66 possession of 58 caps bearing the FA crest;
Count 67 possession of 123 framed photos and prints bearing the Manchester United crest;
Count 72 possession of 27 framed photos and prints with the Liverpool FC crest.

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