Ballymena man prosecuted for working illegally in Belfast
On Tuesday 1 August 2023, Alan Agnew from Ballymena was prosecuted at Laganside Magistrates' Court.
He pleaded guilty to working illegally as a door supervisor and for using a counterfeit Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence when he worked at a Belfast nightclub.
The court fined Agnew £300 and ordered him to pay £235 costs. The prosecution was brought by the SIA.
SIA investigators and officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland carried out two planned inspections of venues in Belfast’s night-time economy on 28 September 2022 and Monday 3 October 2022. During the inspection on 28 September, Mr Agnew was found to be working without a valid SIA licence in a Belfast nightclub. He was wearing a counterfeit licence with his image on it. SIA investigators seized the licence and cautioned Mr Agnew and attempted to interview him.
Mr Agnew submitted an application for an SIA licence on 9 December 2022 and following these convictions the SIA has refused this application.
Mr Agnew was interviewed under caution by SIA investigators on 16 January 2023 at Musgrave Police Station, the same day as Ryan Wilkinson who was prosecuted by the SIA on 30 May. During the interview Agnew told the SIA that the licence was given to him by a friend and he declined to tell them who that was.
Jenny Hart, one of the SIA’s Criminal Investigation Managers, said:
The SIA’s licensing regime is there to protect the public and a licence is awarded to a ‘fit and proper’ person. We encourage all venues to check that deployed door supervisors are genuine SIA licence holders on our register of licence holders. He chose to work around potentially vulnerable people who were out enjoying themselves. Mr Agnew was a risk to those people. In addition to fines, Mr Agnew now has a criminal record following these convictions.
Notes to editors:
- By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence
- Read about SIA enforcement and penalties
- The offences mentioned above are:
- Fraud Act 2006, section 6 – possession of article for use in fraud
- Private Security Industry Act 2001, section 3 – engaging in licensable conduct without a licence
- Private Security Industry Act 2001, section 22 – making false statements to the SIA
Further information:
- The Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the United Kingdom, 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.
- For further information about the Security Industry Authority or to sign up for email updates visit: www.gov.uk/sia. The SIA is also on LinkedIn Facebook (Security Industry Authority) and Twitter (@SIAuk).