On 15 January 2018, at Doncaster Magistrates Court, Leslie Fitzakerley of the dissolved company Diamond Security was found guilty of supplying unlicensed door supervisors. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) began investigating Fitzakerley in April 2017 when they received intelligence from South Yorkshire Police that Fitzakerley, who was a sole trader under the name of Diamond Security, had supplied a seventeen-year-old to work as a door supervisor on 2 occasions. Whilst conducting licensing checks in September 2016 South Yorkshire Police discovered the seventeen-year-old working as a door...

On 9 December 2017 at Teesside Crown Court, jailed security director Christopher Catchpole, was ordered to pay back proceeds of crime amounting to £63,628. Catchpole, formerly of Pro-Lock Security Limited based in Durham, had previously been sentenced to 32 months in prison at Teesside Crown Court in June 2017. He was convicted of money laundering, supplying an unlicensed security operative and acting as the director of a security company without a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. The judge gave Catchpole three months to pay. He faces an extra nine months in prison if he fails to ...

On Tuesday 9 January 2018 at Workington Magistrates’ Court, the Security Industry Authority (SIA) successfully defended an appeal against the suspension of a licence from a security officer charged with indecent exposure. The licence holder, who cannot be named because the case is still to be heard at the Carlisle Crown Court, was suspended in November 2017 having been charged for indecent exposure. He allegedly exposed himself to a group of children (aged 1, 4 and 8) at a public swimming pool. The police informed the SIA of the security officer’s alleged behaviour, following which his S...

2017 has been dominated by the sale of NOONAN to BidVest, the South African services, trading, and distribution giant writes Interconnective’s Bobby Logue. This can only be viewed as a positive acquisition, which will allow NOONAN to continue to flourish as a market leader within the private security industry. NOONAN was initially set up in 1977 to provide cleaning services to the public and private sectors in Ireland. By 2001, the reputable organisation had established a security division in order to satisfy the demands within this particular sector. Having made previous acquisitions wit...

On 6 November, at Caernarfon Crown Court, Mark Pursglove was sentenced for working without a licence following several hearings in October 2017 and September 2017. At this latest hearing, Pursglove was given a 4-month prison sentence suspended for 2 years. He was also sentenced to a community order of 150 hours unpaid work. As part of this hearing, Pursglove was referred for the confiscation of assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002). As a result, a confiscation timetable was set. Pursglove is a serial offender, he was found guilty of working without a licence on 14 September and this ...

Door supervisor, Warren Steele, has had his licence revoked by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) following a conviction, for failing to display his licence whist on duty. Steele was sentenced on 15 September 2017, at Chester Magistrates Court. Steele, a head door supervisor, was caught on two occasions failing to display his Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence when he was working at a bar near Chester. When SIA investigators confronted Steele, he was less than co-operative. This is an important condition, as it demonstrates to the public that the door supervisors they see at bars a...

Alan Clamp, Chief Executive of the Security Industry Authority (SIA) launched a new initiative yesterday at Security Twenty17 promoting responsible buying of security and the SIA’s Approved Contractor Scheme. Alan Clamp told the audience at the Heathrow event that the SIA want to persuade purchasers to buy security on quality, not just on price. A new SIA leaflet, “Do You Buy Security: the regulator’s guide to buying private security” has been produced in support of the initiative. Holding a copy of the leaflet, Alan Clamp told the audience: “Buying cut-price security can be appeal...

On 26 October, at Leamington Spa Magistrates Court, Karl Alexander Morrison now known as Karl O’Brien, was found guilty of working without a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. Morrison was found working without an SIA licence at an illegal traveller’s encampment in Coventry, by SIA investigators, following intelligence received from Warwickshire Police in April 2017. From a subsequent investigation, it was discovered that Nottinghamshire Police were also gathering evidence of Morrison working without a licence, at a pub in Sutton in Ashfield. Morrison was sentenced to 8 weeks im...

On 12 October 2017, at Caernarfon Magistrates Court, Mark Pursglove was referred to the crown court to be sentenced for working without an SIA licence. Rachel Williams was sentenced for aiding and abetting offences. This sentencing follows the prosecution of Mark Pursglove and Rachel Williams on 14 September 2017. Mark Pursglove was prosecuted in 2016 because he had supplied unlicensed security operatives. Once his company was found guilty, Mark Pursglove continued to act as a director despite being unlicensed and positioned Rachel Williams as the frontwoman of the business to conceal this fa...

On the evening of Saturday 3rd June 2017, whilst on duty PC Wayne Marques, hearing the screams of a woman outside the railway station went towards the terrifying scenes commonly described as The London Bridge Attacks. As passers-by tended to a man suffering from multiple stab wounds and amidst scenes of panic and confusion along Borough High Street, PC Marques, without thought for his own safety, charged the three attackers to stop more members of the public being injured. Equipped only with a standard issue expandable baton to defend himself, he engaged all three attackers who turned on hi...