Shrewsbury night club manager prosecuted for supplying illegal security
A Shrewsbury man was prosecuted at Doncaster Magistrates' Court on 28 June 2023 for managing illegal security at a Shrewsbury night club between 10 July 2021 and 4 November 2021.
The court sentenced Kenneth Bailey to a £120 fine, and ordered him to pay £500 prosecution costs and a £34 victim surcharge. The prosecution was brought by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) following an inspection and enforcement operation in partnership with West Mercia Police on 22 October 2021. During the operation the SIA carried out checks of venues across Shrewsbury, Telford and Wolverhampton.
SIA investigators inspected Shrewsbury’s Buttermarket night club and found a man named Stephen Dion working without an SIA licence. During the investigation they discovered that he had worked without a licence on 14 occasions over a three-month period. The investigation identified that Kenneth Bailey was his manager and an SIA licence holder, and he performed the role of head doorman at the Buttermarket.
Dion was prosecuted in 2022 and the details of the prosecution are available here.
SIA investigators interviewed Kenneth Bailey under caution in February 2022. During the interview he admitted that he assumed Stephen Dion was an SIA licence holder but failed to check this on the SIA’s register of licence holders.
Jenny Hart, one of our criminal investigations managers, said:
The role of the licensing regime is to protect the public. Mr Bailey was an SIA licence holder and as a manager had the responsibility of ensuring that door supervisors he deployed were suitably licensed to protect the patrons of the Buttermarket night club. He failed to take the time to ensure that Dion was licensed to do the job he was paid to do and by doing so put the public at risk during the busy summer and autumn periods. Mr Bailey was previously of good character but because of his actions he now a criminal record and his licence is suspended.
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 offence relating to the Private Security Industry Act 2001 that is mentioned above is:
- Section 5 – employing unlicensed persons in licensable conduct
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).