On October 30 at Coventry Magistrates Court, a security company owner was found guilty of failing to provide information to the Security Industry Authority (SIA). In February the SIA required Anita Corbett, owner of A1 Protection Services, to provide information about her customers after intelligence was received concerning an employee, her son Matthew Corbett.
Anita Corbett, 55, failed to disclose that her son was an employee, operating as an unlicensed door supervisor, and that he provided security at an under 18s event.
In 2009, Matthew Corbett was convicted for offences that precluded him from holding an SIA licence, and which also led to a ban on him working with children.
In August, Matthew Corbett pleaded guilty to engaging in licensable conduct without a licence and was sentenced to a community order requiring him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay almost £6,000 as a contribution to prosecution costs. At the same hearing Anita Corbett entered a not guilty plea. On October 30, the court heard Anita Corbett claim that she would not risk her job as a teaching assistant to cover up for her son, and her omission of information was a genuine oversight.
In finding Anita Corbett guilty, the Magistrates said: “We have listened very carefully to everything that has been said… but we do not find that there was a reasonable excuse for your failure to provide the information requested by the SIA.”
Anita Corbett was fined £1000, ordered to pay £2265 in costs and a £100 victim surcharge.
Head of Investigation, Nathan Salmon said after the case: “The SIA pursued this prosecution because Mrs Corbett failed to provide information about her business; A1 Protection Services.
“The case is aggravated because an operative for the business, her son Matthew, had serious previous convictions which preclude him from operating in the private security industry. Mrs Corbett failed to provide information regarding premises where Matthew had been working as a door supervisor.”
Notes
By law, security operatives working under contract and all door supervisors must hold and display a valid SIA licence. A non-front line licence is required for those who manage, supervise and/or employ individuals who engage in licensable activity, as long as front line activity is not carried out; this includes directors and partners. Information about SIA enforcement and penalties can be found on the website: www.sia.homeoffice.gov.uk/enforcement
The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the UK, 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.
