ECHO<\/a>: \u201cIf a property we believe should be licensed is unlicensed, letters are sent to that address advising of the requirement for a TV Licence if the occupant watches live TV or other licensable content. This stops for one year when the occupant declares they don\u2019t need a licence, when letters will resume to check if circumstances have changed.\u201d<\/p>\nIn September last year, Mr Stuart was visited by a TV Licensing inspection officer. He described the visit as an opportunity to explain his viewing habits in person, adding: \u201cI told him I didn\u2019t pay for a TV licence because I didn\u2019t think I needed one because I don\u2019t watch live TV.<\/p>\n
![\"Lee](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_Lee-Stewart-from-Kirkby-who-successfully-won-his-TV-licence-fine-in-court-Photo-by-Colin-Lane.jpg\")
Lee Stuart from Kirkby(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even have an aerial installed in my TV, and I invited him to do his checks. He was a bit apprehensive, but he looked at everything and asked me what I used the TV for.<\/p>\n
“So I told him I just watch Netflix and Amazon Prime through the PlayStation, and he asked me if I used BBC iPlayer and I said, ‘no’.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the inspection, Mr Stuart said the officer confirmed he was not in breach of licensing requirements.<\/p>\n
Mr Stuart described how the officer documented their conversation and read back the main points, including that no live TV was being watched and no BBC iPlayer account was used.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIt was official, and I agreed with what he had said, so when I was presented with the big white signature box, I just signed it, and then he left. To be honest, I was really made up with myself, thinking I\u2019d beaten the system and proved I didn\u2019t need a license.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, in January this year, Mr Stuart received a Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN), which covers those who are alleged to have watched TV without a license.<\/p>\n
Lee explained: \u201cIt said if I pleaded not guilty, the fine would be larger and I may have to pay court costs. So I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s going on at this point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look through it all, and at the back was the inspector\u2019s statement. Straight away I clock the question, \u2018May I come in to inspect the TV receiver?\u2019 and it said \u2018no\u2019 in the answer box, so that was wrong because I did.<\/p>\n
![\"Lee](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1750218252_261_0_Lee-Stewart-from-Kirkby-who-successfully-won-his-TV-licence-fine-in-court-Photo-by-Colin-Lane.jpg\")
Lee Stuart from Kirkby(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next point was saying I admitted to watching the news last week. So I\u2019ve refused him entry and then admitted on the step I watched live news last week? It didn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Stuart chose to contest the notice and represented himself in court.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI can see why people just accept it, but I knew I was innocent and I wasn\u2019t paying for a TV license that I didn\u2019t need so I fought it.\u201d<\/p>\n
“I’ll be totally honest, I was surprised by the outcome and I thought it might be good to share my experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The court dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence. A TV Licensing spokesperson said: \u201cThis was reviewed by TV Licensing following the court hearing in April 2025 as is standard practice, and no failings were highlighted.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesperson added that while both the officer and Mr Stuart gave credible in-person testimony, the magistrates could not find the case was proved beyond reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n
Mr Stuart, initially pleased with the outcome, later received a further letter from TV Licensing advising of the licence requirement. He has since submitted a formal complaint and a No Licence Needed (NLN) declaration.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThe form asks at the end, \u2018What outcome do you want from this?\u2019 and I just put \u2018All I want is to be left alone, but an apology wouldn\u2019t go amiss\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
TV Licensing confirmed it has now received Mr Stuart\u2019s NLN declaration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lee Stuart attended Sefton Magistrates Court after he was served a notice for not having a TV licenseLee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[192,748,393,4884,21515,458,179,382,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-193387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-kirkby","13":"tag-knowsley","14":"tag-liverpool","15":"tag-tv","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Lee](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1_Lee-Stewart-from-Kirkby-TV-licence-fine-in-court-Photo-by-Colin-Lane.jpg\")
Lee Stuart from Kirkby(Image: Colin Lane\/Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n