Security boss fined after failing to check operative’s licence

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) prosecuted Adeel Yasin, who is the director of Prime London Services Ltd, after one of their investigators found an unlicensed security guard during checks at a BP garage under renovation in Oxfordshire.

Adeel Yasin was fined £1000 by magistrates on 15 March and ordered to pay court costs of £1400 plus a victim surcharge of £100. The court also fined Prime London Services £1000 and ordered it to pay court costs of £1541.25 plus a victim surcharge of £100. Yasin had originally pleaded not guilty but changed his plea when he heard the evidence against him.

Nathan Salmon, of the SIA Criminal Investigation Team, said:

Adeel Yasin failed to undertake proper checks on the operatives for which he was responsible. He should have made sure that any staff supplied to him by a subcontractor were correctly licensed and therefore working legally. His negligence has cost him a substantial amount of money. It may also cost him his career in the security industry and his livelihood.

The SIA investigator found the unlicensed operative working at the BP Garage in Stadhampton, Oxfordshire on 22 October 2019. The guard claimed that he was covering for a friend and that he had left his licence at home. He left the site when the investigator went back to his car to check SIA licence records.

The SIA contacted Adeel Yasin, whose company Prime London Services had been providing security for the site. Yasin said that the guard had been supplied to Prime by a subcontractor. Yasin told SIA investigators that he had previously checked the licence of the security guard “from a distance” by car headlight during a night-time visit to the garage.

Though the SIA have not been able identify the guard, an inspection of the site signing-in sheets gave investigators reason to believe that he had in fact worked on several previous occasions.

Notes to editors:

1. By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence. Information about SIA enforcement and penalties can be found on the website

2. The offences relating to the Private Security Industry Act 2001 that are mentioned in the above news release are as follows:

• Section 5 deploying unlicensed guards
• Section 23 consent, connivance or neglect of directors for employing unlicensed guards

The Private Security Industry Act 2001 is available online: The Private Security Industry Act 2001

Further information:

• The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the United Kingdom, reporting to the Home Secretary under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001. Our main duties are: the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities; and managing the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.
• For further information about the Security Industry Authority visit www.gov.uk/sia. The SIA is also on Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and Twitter (SIAuk).
• Media enquiries only please contact: 0300 123 9869, media.enquiries@sia.gov.uk