A Cambridge security company director and one of his operatives have been ordered to pay more than £5,000 after admitting offences under the Private Security Industry Act 2001.
Paul Thomson, sole director of Cambridge Security Services Ltd, pleaded guilty at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on April 28 to knowingly deploying an unlicensed operative as a keyholder.
The company itself also admitted a separate offence linked to supplying an unlicensed worker.
Thomson was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £800 and prosecution costs of £700 — a total of £3,500. Cambridge Security Services Ltd was also ordered to pay £600 in prosecution costs.
At the same hearing, Daniel Almond-Farrant pleaded guilty to providing lock and unlock services without a valid Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence.
He was fined £600 and ordered to pay a £240 victim surcharge and £700 in prosecution costs, bringing his total to £1,540.
The prosecution followed an SIA investigation into Cambridge Security Services’ contract for keyholding services at a Cambridge premises.
The contract included lock and unlock duties and alarm response responsibilities. Investigators found Almond-Farrant had carried out the work despite not holding the required SIA licence.
Both Almond-Farrant and Thomson later admitted during interviews with the SIA that they knew the deployment was illegal and continued regardless.
Jenny Hart, SIA Criminal Enforcement Manager, said: “These two men, through their company, knowingly decided to break the law for their own gain.
“This put the premises they were contracted to protect, and as a result those working within, at risk.
“That, collectively, they have been ordered to pay over £5,600 as a result of their offending makes clear to all that crime in the private security industry does not pay, and the Security Industry Authority will make sure of that.”
By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence.
The Security Industry Authority regulates the private security industry across the UK and oversees licensing requirements for security staff and approved contractors.
