Glasgow security business deploying unlicensed staff ordered to pay £46,000

SPS Doorguard Ltd knowingly provided several clients with unlicensed security officers to protect properties, including one near the COP26 Summit held in Glasgow back in 2021.

Subsequent to an investigation conducted by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), authorities at Glasgow Sheriff Court ruled that the company had received a criminal benefit amounting to £42,039. This sum will now be seized using a court-issued confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The SIA will use the recovered money to fund good causes across the UK.

Glasgow Sheriff Court fined SPS Doorguard Ltd the sum of £4,000 at the sentencing hearing, which was conducted on 8 January. This is in addition to the £42,039 to be seized. The company must also pay a £175 victim surcharge.

Illegal working

Nicola Bolton, criminal investigations manager at the SIA, noted: “An important element of keeping members of the public safe is ensuring that those individuals working in the private security industry are properly licensed. SPS Doorguard Ltd has profited significantly at the expense of those the business was employed to protect. The company is now facing the consequences.

Bolton added: “This court order will help to redress the imbalance that operating illegally has on the private security industry. It demonstrates that crime does not pay.”

SPS Doorguard Ltd had pleaded guilty to the charges on 4 July.

The Proceeds of Crime Act sets out the legislative scheme for the recovery of criminal assets, with criminal confiscation being the most commonly used power. Confiscation occurs after a conviction has taken place.

If an entity has a Proceeds of Crime Order attributed to it then payment must be made regardless of whether a jail term is served.

Door supervisor convicted

Mohammed Saimon, who gave his SIA licence to a friend such that the latter could work as a door supervisor, has been fined almost £2,000 and handed a 12-month Community Order for fraud and providing false information.

Saimon was scheduled to work as a door supervisor at a venue in Billericay, Essex on 11 May last year. The venue management recognised that the person who turned up to work was not Saimon. They contacted the security company, who came to the premises and challenged the man who was on duty.

The security company manager took possession of the SIA licence and called Saimon, who told him that he had sent his friend to work at the venue as he was unable to be present at the premises on that night.

Saimon admitted that he had given his licence to a friend. He was sentenced at Thames Magistrates’ Court on 6 January to a 12-month Community Order. Saimon must also complete 80 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,858 costs to the SIA.

Abuse of position

Mark Chapman, criminal investigations manager at the SIA, observed: “SIA licence holders are required to be properly trained and appropriately vetted in order to hold a position of authority and trust as a door supervisor. Mohammed Saimon abused this position by providing an untrained and unlicensed individual with the opportunity to work, thereby potentially placing members of the public at risk.”

Chapman concluded: “The outcome of this prosecution should be a lesson to anyone who’s thinking of committing fraud. Receiving a criminal conviction and being made to repay the SIA’s prosecution costs shows that crime doesn’t pay.”