Islington Tribune - News: Swoop forces pirate radio stations off

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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 25 April 2008

Pirate radio equipment is dismantled on the top of Redwood Court tower block

Swoop forces pirate radio stations off-air

Transmitters hidden in chimneys on high-rise blocks

A MAJOR breakthrough in a cat-and-mouse game between police and pirate radio broadcasters has resulted in two music stations being taken off-air.
Police from Hillrise Safer Neighbourhoods Team and officials from communications regulator Ofcom have been hunting the masterminds behind radio stations broadcasting illegally from the roofs of Islington’s high-rise buildings.
Rude FM 88.2 – which calls itself London’s number one drum and bass station – and True 100.2 FM were taken off-air two weeks ago after police dismantled broadcasting equipment hidden in chimney flues and secured with a car jack.
Less than 24 hours after the equipment was cut, True FM was back on-air but officers have since tracked it down and ended the broadcast again.
This week, Rude FM’s unofficial website ran a message saying “stream is down at the moment”.
Police and Ofcom tracked the broadcasters as they set up home on the roof of Iberia House and Monroe House in Archway. They moved on to nearby Redwood Court when their equipment was uncovered.
PC Mick Murray said the culprits were proving hard to find.
He added: “It was a game of cat and mouse where we would go on the roofs and cut wires only for them to be replaced within days.
“The aerials were mounted on scaffold poles. One was attached to T-mobile transmitters, the other secured to the side of the building. The aerials were up to 30 feet in height.”
He said: “They’ve been mainly setting up on the roof of the New Orleans estate. The transmitters were concealed inside chimneys on the roofs.
“The whole ensemble was lowered inside the chimney to four feet where a car jack would be opened until it secured itself onto both sides of the chimney.”
The pirates took electricity from the buildings’ power supply (junction box) by running cables all the way to the rooftops.
PC Murray said: “The operators had access to keys for both the roof and the junction box and would usually go up in the dead of night. We’ve been trying to get hold of them for the last six months.”
Once taken out of action in Iberia and Monroe Houses, the pirate stations moved to Redwood Court but their equipment was dismantled by officers and a team from Ofcom last week.
PC Murray said the raids were a result of four months of hard work but he expected the stations to return.
He added: “We first started cutting cables when this came to our attention in January.
“They were even cheeky enough to use timers turning the power on and off to save the British taxpayer money.
“They will be back. They need somewhere high [to broadcast from] and our ward and Harringey are ideal.”
A spokesman for Ofcom said: “Illegal broadcasting is a menace. It causes serious interference to the communications systems used by safety-of-life services as well as legitimate radio stations.
“Working with the Metropolitan Police and the local council, Ofcom takes swift and firm action against those people involved with this criminal activity.”
Rude FM was unavailable for comment.

* Two men have been arrested and £3,000 worth of equipment seized in connection with offences relating to the Wireless and Telegraphy Act.
Both men have been bailed pending further inquiries.

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