AN ISLE of Wight electronics manufacturer broke down in tears after being cleared of a multi-million-pound fraud which was alleged to have cost satellite broadcaster BSkyB more than £3m.

Timothy Ingram, 43, could not hold back his emotions after jurors at Southampton Crown Court acquitted him of two charges of conspiracy to defraud British Sky Broadcasting Ltd and Cable Service Providers by developing, manufacturing and selling unauthorised decoder devices contrary to common law.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft prosecuted the electronics expert, of Brookwood House, Kemming Road, Whitwell, along with two others.

Mr Ingram, a director of Katon Ingram Electronics Ltd, was alleged to have made £130,000 by producing more than 20,000 "black boxes", capable of letting people watch scores of TV channels without paying.

The boxes, which are no bigger than a cigarette packet, allowed someone subscribing to the basic BSkyB TV channel package, to pick up other channels by intercepting signals send to the decoders.

This saved people around £30 a month and resulted in the TV company losing almost £300,000 a month or £3.5m a year.

A spokesman for Katon Ingram Electronics Ltd said: "We have received a telephone call from Mr Ingram and he has told us he is very happy with the court's decision and is taking a few days off work.

"He does not want to be contacted by anyone."

Giving evidence earlier Mr Ingram said: "I was contacted by a man called John who said he heard that I could produce the sort of computer boards he was looking for. He said he had a sample and wandered if I could produce it in bulk.

"After seeing the sample, I realised it was something I could manufacture and began costing it up and sounding out sub-contractors who could make the necessary components and the plastic cases for the finished boxes.

"John phoned me on a number of occasions to see whether I had an estimate cost for him. I told him what it was and he liked what he heard. I then started the manufacturing process."

Asked by his defence counsel, Gordon Bebb, whether he had asked what the boxes would be used for Mr Ingram replied "No".

Last week the case against Ingram's two co-defendants finished after one - Michael Chamberlain, 34, from Brackenbury Road, Birmingham - pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to defraud. The second defendant - Christopher Brennan, 22, of Warren Hill Road, Birmingham - was acquitted after the prosecution offered no evidence.

Chamberlain is due to be sentenced on December 3 this year.

A third man, John Rimmer, from Milton Keynes, who commissioned 7,000 boxes from Ingram, is still being hunted by police after fleeing to an unknown destination.