Unlicensed security boss ordered to pay £5,500 or face jail

An unlicensed security company boss has to pay £5,500 under the Proceeds of Crime Act after he was prosecuted by regulatory body the Security Industry Authority.

Nicholas Seabrook, 30, of Hodges Crescent, Pengam, near Blackwood, was ordered to pay the money at a court hearing last month.

Seabrook worked illegally as an unlicensed director of NPS Security Ltd between August 6, 2018, when he started the company, and July 13, 2019.

During that time he supplied security services to a number of pubs in south Wales – making around £150,000.

Seabrook has to pay £5,560.59 by the end of August this year or he could be jailed for three months. At a hearing in Cardiff Crown Court on May 31, he was also fined £500 and told to pay £250 prosecution costs and a victim surcharge of £38.

The prosecution was brought by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) after information was provided by Gwent Police.

The SIA sought information from Seabrook, which he failed to provide. When interviewed he admitted he had been operating his business without a licence.

Seabrook admitted charges of being an unlicensed security director and failing to provide information to the SIA at Cwmbran Magistrates’ Court in December last year.

Sentencing Seabrook, Judge Jeremy Jenkins, said: “You entered the industry with naivety but by January 2019 you knew you needed a licence. You should have applied before. You applied later on, but because of what had happened between that time and your application, your licence was disallowed. It was imperative that you, as a director were licensed and you were not – that is a serious matter.”

Nathan Salmon, a criminal investigations manager with the SIA, added: “Nicholas Seabrook has broken the law twice and profited from working illegally. He put his customers’ clients – ordinary pub-goers – at risk by operating illegally.

“He has a significant court order against him, and a criminal record. If he fails to pay the fine and the confiscation order he will face a jail sentence. The lesson is clear: if an unlicensed security director breaks the law there are consequences.”