IT'S A FAIR KOP

FOUR CHANGE PLEAS TO ADMIT ANFIELD TICKET FRAUD CONSPIRACY

- By ADAM EVERETT

FOUR men have admitted being part of a plot in which touts conspired with staff in Liverpool FC's ticket office to resell passes for games at 'significantly inflated prices.

Joseph Johnson was one of five men and two women who have been on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of being part of the lucrative conspiracy.

He and his associates were also said to have operated from a leased office at a sixth form college.

The fraudulent scheme spanned several years and involved the creation of more than 1,000 LFC memberships using fake names and details, potentially netting them hundreds of thousands of pounds.

While Johnson had previously denied a total of five charges, yesterday he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud by abuse of position and conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation.

Judge David Swinnerton directed the jury to record guilty verdicts against him.

A further charge of fraud by false representation which the 42-year-old, of Chelford Road in Eccleston, St Helens, had faced was ordered to lie on the file, as was a fifth matter of money laundering.

His parents and partner have also been in the dock this week.

His mother, Angela Johnson, 63, of Buttermere Close in Kirkby, denied one charge of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, as well as money laundering.