A man who secretly filmed Fast & Furious 6 in a Walsall cinema has been sentenced to three years in prison. Philip Danks, 25, from the West Midlands is thought to have cost Universal Pictures around £2.3 million in lost revenue after uploading the movie onto the web.

Fast Furious 6Vin Diesel in 'The Fast & Furious 6'

Danks had visited a showing of the film on its release date on May 17 and his pirated copy was downloaded over 700,000 times. He was also selling copies of his recorded version on his Facebook page for £1.50, making £1,000 in the process. He was arrested on May 23. 

According to Sky News, police noticed that his username Thecod3r was the same as that on his dating profile on website Plenty of Fish. Doh!

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Danks pleaded guilty to three charges of distributing pirate copies of movies. He was given 33 months in jail.

"The film was Universal Picture's most significant release of that year with both the biggest production costs and expected revenue," Mr Ari Alibhai, prosecuting said.

Fast and Furious 6Dwayne Johnson [R] in 'Fast and Furious 6'

"The estimated loss to the industry caused by the defendant's actions is conservatively estimated at £2.3m but he did not receive money from the online distribution."

He added: "The first person with a pirated version attracts much kudos. He wanted recognition from the community."

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Recorder Keith Raynor said the offending was "bold, arrogant and cocksure.

"Your approach to the film industry was made clear in the posting you made on Facebook two days after your arrest.

"I accept the personal profit was modest but the real seriousness of this case is the loss caused to the film industry as a whole.