On Friday 17 October 2014 at Sheffield Crown Court, two security directors were sentenced for committing 29 private security offences.
Under the company names Dragon Security Solutions and Goodfellas Nightspot Barnsley, the individuals concerned supplied unlicensed security officers to unsuspecting customers across South Yorkshire over a nine-month period. Neither of the directors held Security Industry Authority licences to work in the private security sector.
Ian Lindsay (of Market Street, Rotherham) and Martyn Cook (of Philip Avenue in Nuthall, Nottingham) had pleaded guilty to the offences at Rotherham Magistrates’ Court on 15 July this year.
Last Friday, Lindsay was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment for supplying unlicensed officers and a further four months’ imprisonment for working as an unlicensed director. Both sentences were suspended for two years. Lindsay was also disqualified as a company director for three-and-a-half years.
Cook was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment for supplying unlicensed security officers and two months’ imprisonment for working as an unlicensed director. Again, both sentences were suspended for two years. Cook was ordered to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work and has been disqualified as a company director for three-and-a-half years.
The Court set out a timetable for proceedings against the pair and the companies under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
By law, security operatives working under contract and all door supervisors must hold and display a valid SIA licence card
Operation in respect of the regulatory framework
In sentencing Lindsay and Cook, Recorder Wilby QC said: “The purpose of the regulations is that there is a second line of security to ensure those [frontline operatives] who deal with the public are safe to do so. Following his release from prison, Mr Lindsay started providing security (through Dragon Security). It is inconceivable he could not have recognised the regulatory regime and that he needed a licence.”
Recorder Wilby QC continued: “In relation to Mr Cook, [once he became a director of Dragon Security] he cannot have been ignorant and should have made enquiries into whether he needed a licence.”
Closing the statement, Recorder Wilby QC stated: “The public are entitled to have safety and assurances that those operating such businesses are properly licensed and that they operate the company in respect of the regulatory framework.”
Security Industry Authority (SIA) investigations manager Nathan Salmon explained: “These strong sentences reflect the seriousness of the offending by these two directors. I’m pleased the Court recognises the SIA’s role in protecting the public.”
Salmon added: “Mr Lindsay has been proven to be an unsuitable individual to work within the security industry because of his serious criminal history. His disqualification as a company director now precludes him from controlling any company.”
In addition, Salmon commented: “The SIA will continue to work with its enforcement partners to ensure that any financial benefit from the offending can be identified and confiscated.”
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