Bournemouth company director sentenced for supplying illegal security

Briggs’ business, Principal Protection and Events Ltd, was fined £20,000 and required to pay a victim surcharge of £8,000 in addition to prosecution costs of £1,400.60. Briggs is presently appealing the fine.

Briggs entered guilty pleas at Poole Magistrates’ Court on behalf of himself and his business on Thursday 29 June. He supplied illegal security to a Bournemouth bar on 13 and 14 January this year.

Ricardo Shand was fined £166 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £430. This follows Shand’s guilty plea to Poole Magistrates’ Court on 3 May for working illegally as a door supervisor at the Bournemouth bar on 13 and 14 January.

Shand pleaded not guilty on 29 June to an earlier offence for working at a Bournemouth nightclub on one of the May Bank Holidays in 2022. Those presiding at court found him guilty, and he was fined £807, ordered to pay a £322 victim surcharge and also £4,000 costs because of his not guilty plea.

The prosecutions were brought by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Information sharing

On 5 February this year, Dorset Police licensing officers shared information with SIA investigators that Principal Protection Events Ltd had deployed Ricardo Shand as an unlicensed door supervisor for two shifts at a Bournemouth bar on 13 and 14 January.

SIA investigators interviewed Patrick Briggs, the director of Principal Protection Events Ltd, under caution on the 21 February whereupon he admitted to deploying Ricardo Shand to the bar on 13 and 14 January.

Principal Protection Events Ltd was formerly an SIA Approved Contractor. Shand told Briggs that his licence application was in progress and that he was in possession of a Licence Dispensation Notice. This was incorrect because Principal Protection Events Ltd was no longer an SIA Approved Contractor and the Licence Dispensation Notice facility was not available to either of them.

On 21 March, Shand met SIA investigators when he was interviewed under caution. Shand did not respond to any of the questions posed to him by SIA investigators.

Shand was prosecuted by the SIA for working illegally as a door supervisor on 29 June this year. On 28 May last year (a Bank Holiday weekend), a joint operation between the SIA and Dorset Police licensing officers witnessed inspections carried out within Bournemouth’s night-time economy. When they arrived at a club, they found a man who was wearing a black shirt using a number clicker to capture the number of patrons in the club. It appeared that the man, Ricardo Shand, was working as a door supervisor.

SIA investigators asked Shand to show his licence and he told them that he had left it in his car. When investigators probed further, he admitted to investigators that his SIA door supervisor licence had expired. He said he worked for Principal Protection Events Ltd.

On 8 September 2022, Shand took part in a voluntary interview under caution involving SIA investigators. He admitted to them that he was without an SIA licence. He also admitted to having completed 20 shifts at the nightclub between 15 April and 28 May 2022.

Protecting the public

Mark Chapman, one of the SIA’s criminal investigations managers, explained: “Patrick Briggs, Principal Protection Events Ltd and Ricardo Shand deliberately supplied and provided illegal security to Bournemouth’s night-time economy. Both Briggs and Shand knew that the SIA licence regime exists to protect the public, yet they chose to operate illegally, in turn putting the safety of patrons of Bournemouth’s bars and clubs at risk by their actions.”

Chapman added: “Shand even continued to work despite knowing that he was being prosecuted for working illegally. Both Briggs and Shand now have criminal records. I commend our enforcement partners at Dorset Police and the licensing officers for assisting us to uncover this offending and secure convictions.”

Sergeant Gareth Gosling of Dorset Police’s drug and alcohol harm reduction team, observed: “This was an excellent piece of partnership work between Dorset Police’s alcohol licensing team and the SIA to identify and take positive action against individuals intent on either working without the necessary SIA accreditation or otherwise supplying unlicensed staff to the night-time economy in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council area. This illegal activity undermines our efforts to ensure that we have properly vetted and accredited staff capable of promoting our community safety priorities.”

Gosling concluded: “We value the contribution of the SIA-accredited staff in the night-time economy and consistently support them where and when possible to deliver the best service in their venues. Unlicensed individuals posing as accredited door supervisors risk undermining the trust and confidence of the public and they will not be tolerated.”