John Day, who left West Midlands Police at the end of the 1980s to set up his own security business, was convicted of two Section 19 offences under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 at Birmingham Magistrates Court.
The Security Industry Authority investigated Day’s Harbourne-based company, Secure Areas Limited, in 2007. The company provides uniformed security guards at a number of sites under the direction of John Day, who was running the company without a SIA licence.
To effectively investigate compliance with the legislation, the SIA has the power to require companies and individuals to provide information regarding the extent of their involvement in the security industry.
Information refusals
Day had refused to cooperate with the investigation into his company’s security business when he was sent requests for information, and refused to give the SIA any material regarding the customers that he worked for.
Day challenged the SIA’s powers to request information, saying that he had good commercial reasons for refusing to comply, such as the information was “commercially sensitive”, and said that he was under no obligation to provide information if it might incriminate him.
The Judge rejected those arguments, and found Day guilty of failing to provide information and of running the company without an SIA licence.
Help to comply
Day was fined GB pound 500 for working without a licence, fined GB pound 500 for refusing to provide the information, and was ordered to pay GB pound 5,000 in costs to the SIA.
Sara Brennan, an SIA head of investigation, said: “One of our aims is to work with the security industry to help them comply with the law, but we will take action where there has been a wilful refusal to comply.
“I am pleased with this judgement and I warn other company directors that, they too, could face hefty fines if they flout the law.”
The maximum penalty for committing an offence such as working without a licence or employing unlicensed staff is six months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of up to GB pound 5,000 – or trial on indictment to crown court, whereby an unlimited fine and/or five years’ imprisonment could be imposed.
