Bradford company director found guilty after failing to attend court again

Press release

On Tuesday 1 November 2022, Bradford Magistrates’ Court found Usman Raees guilty in his absence of failing to provide information to the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

The court fined him £660 and ordered him to pay £3,814 court costs plus a £66 victim surcharge within 28 days.

This week’s case follows a successful prosecution by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) in December 2020, when Mr Raees was prosecuted for failing to supply information to the SIA despite repeated requests.

Mr Raees was the sole company director of Bluesec Services Group Ltd for a very short period at the end of November 2017. The SIA later received information about irregular company practices at Bluesec Services. The SIA sought further information from Mr Raees, who held a non front-line licence. SIA investigators wrote to Mr Raees on 16 September 2019 and sent subsequent follow-up letters to which he failed to respond.

Early in 2021 Mr Raees claimed that he had just discovered that he had been prosecuted in his absence. He requested that his case be reopened. The case was heard on Tuesday, yet he once again failed to appear. In his continued absence, the court found him guilty and awarded the full costs to the SIA.

Mark Chapman, one of the SIA’s criminal investigations managers, said:

This is the second time the court has found the case proven against Mr Raees. He is a former company director who now has a criminal record and is unlikely to ever hold an SIA licence again. The role of the SIA is to protect the public. We actively pursue investigations where there are suspicions that dubious practices are being carried out. Failure to supply information to our investigators when requested is an offence. As in this case such actions most often lead to prosecution. The fine and the costs reflect the view the court takes on a refusal to engage with the private security industry regulator.

Notes to editors:

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. The SIA’s 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 or to sign up for email updates visit: www.gov.uk/sia. The SIA is also on LinkedIn, Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and Twitter (@SIAuk).

Published 4 November 2022



Change of His Majesty’s Ambassador to Brazil: Stephanie Al-Qaq

Press release

Ms Stephanie Al-Qaq has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil.

Ms Stephanie Al-Qaq has been appointed His Majesty’s Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil in succession to Mr Peter Wilson CMG.  Ms Al-Qaq will take up her appointment during November 2022.

Full name: Stephanie Al-Qaq

Married to: Dr Kareem Richard Al-Qaq

Children: 3

Dates Role
2022 to present FCDO, Iran Envoy and Director Iran and Regional Security
2019 to 2021 FCDO, Director, Middle East and North Africa Directorate
2015 to 2019  Abu Dhabi, Deputy Head of Mission
2013 to 2015   Mexico City, Minister Counsellor
2007 to 2012  Brasilia, Political Counsellor
2004 to 2006  FCO, Assistant Private Secretary to the Minister of State for the Middle East, Counter Terrorism and Consular
2003 to 2004  FCO, Desk Officer for Iraq
2002 to 2003  FCO, Desk Officer for Counter Narcotics
1998 to 2002  Prior to joining the office worked for several corporate, non-governmental and governmental organisations including Reuters, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and House of Commons

Published 4 November 2022



Two offenders receive increased sentences for violent offending

Two offenders who left victims needing hospital treatment have both been given longer prison terms after their cases were heard together at the Court of Appeal following referrals under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

On 14 November 2021, Zachary Jagger, now 27, got involved in a group altercation after being refused entry to a party at a private residence. Following the fight, he left the scene before returning with the other offender Charlie Hearn, now 29, and the two got involved in another group fight.

While driving back to the group fight, Hearn and Jagger met two victims who had been on their way home after an evening out. These two victims were not involved with the party or the group fight. Hearn threatened one victim with a Stanley knife and slashed another on the back with the blade, causing a 23 cm laceration which required stitches. Jagger and Hearn then returned to the scene of the group fight, during which Jagger got back into his car and intentionally drove at the group twice.

Jagger then deliberately drove into another victim twice, who Hearn attacked with the Stanley knife. The victim was left with a double leg fracture and a laceration to her face.

In a separate incident in 2019 Jagger attacked a victim, inflicting a wound that required 30 stitches. Hearn was not present on this occasion.

On 10 August 2022, Jagger was sentenced to 6 years’ imprisonment with an extended licence of 4 years at Chelmsford Crown Court for offences including wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm, affray and dangerous driving. Hearn was sentenced on the same day at Chelmsford Crown Court to 4 years’ imprisonment for offences including unlawful wounding, threatening another with a blade and affray.

Both of the offenders’ sentences were referred to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme for being too low.

On 03 November 2022, the Court found both sentences to be unduly lenient. Jagger’s sentence was increased to 13 years’ imprisonment with an extended licence of 3 years, while Hearn was ordered to serve a sentence of 6 years’ imprisonment with a 3-year extended licence.

Speaking after the hearing, the Solicitor General Michael Tomlinson MP said:

These were intensely vicious attacks that left the victims with serious wounds, with some needing hospital treatment. I did not believe that the original sentences adequately reflected the violent nature of the offending that occurred, so I welcome the decision of the Court of Appeal to sentence both Jagger and Hearn to longer sentences.



PM call with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida: 4 November 2022

Press release

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this morning.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this morning.

The leaders agreed the UK and Japan were incredibly important allies, who played a vital role in ensuring global stability and prosperity.

Reiterating the importance of ensuring a free and independent Indo-Pacific, the Prime Minister said that the UK was aligned with Japan on the challenges in the region.

Both leaders condemned the recent North Korean missile launches, and the Prime Minister said it was vital the international community remained closely coordinated on the best way forward.

Turning to trade, both Prime Ministers shared the view that the Pacific trade bloc, CPTPP, was an important framework and the UK’s accession offered a unique opportunity to support prosperity across the world.

Discussing progress on the UK’s Future Combat Air System, the leaders agreed that deeper cooperation on the next-generation fighter jet programme would underline the close relationship between the two nations.

Both leaders looked forward to meeting in person soon.

Published 4 November 2022



Europe’s top tech scale-ups announced at Web Summit

  • Four winners revealed from across Europe
  • Winners represent range of sectors, including digital health, cyber security and artificial intelligence
  • All finalists to receive a personalised business development package, connecting them to the UK

The UK Government’s 2022 tech scale-ups programme, the Tech Rocketship Awards, reached its conclusion today. The Awards identified the brightest and best tech companies and will accelerate the global growth of its winners, through curated programmes connecting them with the UK’s ecosystem of investors, incubators and High Potential Opportunity (HPO) clusters.

The Grand Finale saw eight finalists battle it out in live ‘dragons den’ style pitches in front of an expert panel of judges at the residence of His Majesty’s Ambassador to Portugal, Chris Sainty. The finalists were invited to the UK pavilion at Web Summit afterwards for an awards ceremony.

The Tech Rocketship Awards Categories were: AI, 5G, Agri-Tech, Digital Health, Cybersecurity, Climate Tech and a Trailblazers Award – Diversity in Tech.

Winners:

  • Gold – Digital Health – Enbiosis (Turkey): Analyses the human gut microbiome using metadata and AI to provide personalized health and wellness solutions.

  • Silver – Cyber Security – Facephi (Spain): Provides secure user digital identity verification and specialises in digital onboarding and biometric authentication solutions.

  • Bronze – Artificial Intelligence – Jungle AI (The Netherlands): Applies AI to increase the uptime and performance of electromechanical assets such as wind turbines, solar farms or industrial production lines.

  • Trailblazers Award (Promoting Diversity in Tech) – Digital Health – Resistomap (Finland): The first end-to-end platform in the world that monitors antibiotic resistance bacteria and pre-warns clients in case of a potential outbreak.

Chris Barton, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Europe said:

There is no better place for ambitious tech companies to grow than the UK. This is the number one country in Europe for Unicorns, and UK tech VC investment is the third largest in the world. Our tech sector is the home of forward-thinking innovators, venture capital, R&D clusters and opportunities for growth across the whole of the UK.

Tech Rocketships will provide the lucky winners with a rocket-powered, fully-tailored direct route to the financiers, incubators, tech-savvy customers, and all the infrastructure needed to help them make that next great leap from ambitious scale-up to unicorn.

Kenan Poleo, His Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for EECAN (Eastern Europe Central Asian Network) said:

Turkish companies responded brilliantly to the Tech Rocketship Awards. The awards offer companies in the vibrant Turkish tech ecosystem a rocket-powered, fully-tailored direct route to the financiers, incubators, tech-savvy customers, and infrastructure needed to help them make that next great leap from ambitious scale-up to unicorn.

Priya Guha, Venture Partner, Merrian Ventures & Non-Executive Director at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Digital Catapult said:

I was thrilled to be part of the judging panel for this year’s Tech Rocketship Awards and to hear from some of the incredible European tech businesses that are looking to the UK to scale-up and go global.

Whilst they represented a breadth of sectors from biotech to artificial intelligence to AgriTech, all of them will find the UK a great place to scale. In the UK, we have a wealth of diverse tech talent in researchers, developers and experienced scale-up leaders. We also have an open and welcoming business environment and competitive set up costs, all of which will be invaluable to these companies. The UK is rich in opportunity for tech businesses and I look forward to seeing how the UK will be part of the success stories for these fantastic award winners.

The panel of judges was led by experienced entrepreneurs, dealmakers and representatives of government and industry:

  • Priya Guha, Venture Partner, Merrian Ventures, Non-Executive Director at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and Digital Catapult
  • Dr Mike Short CBE, Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for International Trade (DIT)
  • Jude Ower MBE, Founder & CEO of Playmob, Global Entrepreneur Programme Dealmaker, DIT
  • Christian Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, Capital Kinetics

More information about the next awards will soon be communicated to find the next cohort of top tech businesses. Companies can already sign up for further details.

Full details about the competition, including terms and conditions are on the Tech Rocketship Awards website.

All finalists:

  • 5G – Neutroon (Spain): Open-API cloud platform that makes private LTE/5G and Neutral Host simple and scalable for operators and end-users.

  • Cyber Security – Facephi (Spain): Provides secure user digital identity verification and specialises in digital onboarding and biometric authentication solutions.

  • Climate Tech – Monolithos (Greece): Manufactures direct-fit aftermarket automotive catalytic converters.

  • Digital Health – Enbiosis (Turkey): Analyses the human gut microbiome using metadata and AI to provide personalized health and wellness solutions.

  • Artificial Intelligence – Jungle AI (The Netherlands): Applies AI to increase the uptime and performance of electromechanical assets such as wind turbines, solar farms or industrial production lines.

  • AgriTech – Blue White Robotics (Israel): The ‘robots-as-a-service’ platform provides solutions for building autonomous farms.

  • Cyber Security – Authenteq (Germany): Is the world’s first fully automated identity verification eKYC™ platform. Their AI-powered system allows companies and services to onboard users in just 35 seconds.

  • Digital Health – Resistomap (Finland): Is the first end-to-end platform in the world that monitors antibiotic resistance bacteria and pre-warns clients in case of a potential outbreak.