Wimbledon ticket tout jailed for four months
A man who admitted to buying and selling tickets for the Wimbledon Championships 2023 has been jailed for four months.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club, which runs the Wimbledon Championships, filed an order for committal to the High Court against Oliver Hardiman over for contempt of court.
Last July, an order was made by Mr Justice Bourne, who granted the tennis club an interim injunction against Hardiman after he was discovered dealing in non-transferable Wimbledon tickets.
However, it was discovered he had breached the terms of an order, leading the tennis club to file an order for committal.
In a judgment made earlier this month, the court stated that Mr Hardiman is a ticket tout. In the past he has been made the subject of an injunction in proceedings brought by Chelsea Football Club to restrain the sale of football tickets.
He also has two convictions, one in 2009 and recently on 26 January 2024, for the unauthorised sale of football tickets.
In early April, Mr Justice Morris concluded that an immediate custodial sentence is the appropriate sanction in this case. His starting point of six months imprisonment was reduced to 4 months.
However, he held off to give Hardiman a final opportunity to reconsider his position and to purge his contempt by producing a witness statement, which would see him name his associates.
The parties were back at court on Tuesday, and the court was informed he had not disclosed anymore information. The four-month imprisonment is now set to take effect.
Hardiman was also told he must pay £23,942.50 in legal costs.
A spokesperson for the All England Club said: “Wimbledon takes active steps to monitor ticket advertisements and sales. Sellers of non-Debenture tickets will be contacted, and sellers found to be in breach of our ticket terms and conditions may be prohibited from receiving tickets in the future as well as subject to legal action.”
Additional reporting by Callum Parke, PA