A man has been fined for illegally working as a security guard at a construction site in Rhondda, South Wales.
On 8 January, South Wales Police found that Aymen Essa, who was working at a site on an industrial estate, did not have a licence from the Security Industry Authority (SIA).
Police officers visited the site where Essa was working in response to an alarm. They found he had been deployed by a security company based in Cardiff that held the security contract for the industrial estate.
The police referred the case to the criminal investigations team at the SIA, the official regulator of the private security industry, who invited Essa for an interview under caution on 23 May.
According to the SIA, he attended the interview but did not answer questions and said: “Take me to court.”
Essa was fined £100 by Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court and ordered to pay £846 in prosecution costs, as well as a £40 victim surcharge.
The prosecution was brought by the SIA, which is also pursuing a prosecution against the company responsible for Essa’s deployment.
Mark Chapman, a criminal investigation manager at the SIA, said: “Aymen Essa was found working illegally at a construction site in Rhondda. His previous history meant that he is not a fit and proper person to hold an SIA licence, and this latest activity will add to his criminal record.
“Employers are reminded of their responsibility to carry out thorough due-diligence checks on the people they engage to ensure that they are licensed and therefore suitable to do the responsible job of protecting the public and premises. A failure to do so will inevitably lead to further action being taken by the regulator.”
