Unlicensed security operatives caught and sentenced following enforcement checks

Finlay Caw of Bridgnorth was fined £300 and required to pay £500 prosecution costs plus a £34 victim surcharge to be paid within 14 days.

Friday’s sentencing is the latest in a series of prosecutions brought by the SIA (Security Industry Authority) as a result of an inspection and enforcement operation with West Mercia Police last year. During the operation the SIA carried out checks in venues across Telford, Shrewsbury, and Wolverhampton.

SIA investigators found Caw working at Wolverhampton Racecourse on 27 November 2021. Caw worked unlicensed on seven occasions. He falsely claimed to SIA investigators that he was working under a licence dispensation notice as his employer was an approved contractor.

Caw failed to engage with the SIA throughout the resulting investigation.

The SIA prosecuted another security operative in Dudley earlier this year after he was found working without a valid licence during the same enforcement operation.

Stephen Dion of Wolverhampton entered an immediate guilty plea for working without a licence. He was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge, fined £135 as court costs and ordered to pay £22 victim surcharge on 15 June 2022.

On 22 October 2021, SIA investigators at The Buttermarket nightclub in Shrewsbury found Dion working without a licence. During the investigation they discovered that he had worked without a licence on 14 occasions over a three-month period.

Dion was interviewed by the SIA under caution and denied any wrongdoing. Dion later pleaded guilty in court.

Jenny Hart, one of the SIA’s criminal investigations managers said:

The sentencing of these two operatives is yet another reminder of the damage working without a valid licence can cause individuals and their companies. Moreover, by working without a valid SIA licence, Caw and Dion knowingly put the safety of the public at risk. They exploited the trust that the public has in trained SIA licence holders and have now incurred fines and criminal records.

Notes to editors:

• By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence
• Read about SIA enforcement and penalties
• The offences that are mentioned above are as follows:
  • Finlay Caw: Private Security Industry Act 2001, section 3 – unlicensed security operative; Private Security Industry Act 2001, section 22 – false information
  • Stephen Dion: Private Security Industry Act 2001, section 3 – unlicensed security operative

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).