A MAN who ran an online business selling clothing with rip-off trade marks has been ordered to hand over almost £75,000.

Antony Grey was found to have pocketed more than £111,000 from his illicit business selling knock-off T shirts, hoodies and baseball caps.

But after prosecutors accepted eBay and PayPal fees should be taken off that sum it was ruled his benefit from crime was just £93,933.87. And as the 56-year-old only has available assets of £74,941, which includes the equity in his house, that was the sum he was ordered to repay.

Judge Tim Mousley QC, sitting at Swindon Crown Court, said he must hand over £4,941 as costs to the borough council. He ordered the remaining £70,000 would be confiscated under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Grey has three months to pay the money or face a two-year jail sentence, and still have the debt hanging over him.

Representing himself, Grey said he may need longer to get the money, and the judge pointed out it is possible to get an extension at the end of the three months.

He was spared jail in January after admitting a string of trade mark offences by his online business which was run from his Nythe home. He made tens of thousands of pounds putting film, rock band and cartoon, images or logos on the items which he then sold on eBay.

The cottage industry employed three other workers who used a transfer machine to stick knock-off designs on the clothing which was then sold on eBay. Among the haul were characters like Hulk, Captain America, Joker and Wonder Woman, films Jurassic Park and Top Gun as well as rockers Muse.

Even though his sale listings were repeatedly taken down by the internet auction site, Grey and his staff continued selling similar items until trading standards moved in.

In the garden of his home they found three sheds and outbuildings which were being used to run his the companies, which included TG Supplies UK.

They recovered clothing stock along with the computers and transfer printing machine used to produce the bogus items.

Among the trade marks found being used were those owned by Marvel Comics, Universal Studios, Paramount, Marshall Amps, and Muse.

The business had been running since 2011 and in the run up to Christmas 2015 a number of listings were taken down by eBay. Grey had also been warned off by Rock Off, who protect the intellectual property of bands and singers.

The business, a third of which was clothing, turned over up to £400,000 a year with profits of up to £15,000, paying Grey £2,500 to £3,000 a month.

When he was questioned he made a clean breast of it saying ‘If everyone else is doing it, so will I,’ as there were numerous other online sites offering similar items.

Grey, of Shapwick Close, Nythe, admitted 13 counts of offering goods for sale bearing a false trademark and three of selling them.

He as put on an eight-month jail term suspended for two years with 250 hours of unpaid work.