Essex security director ordered to pay out after supplying unlicensed security guards at West London school

Last Friday 8 March at Basildon Crown Court, John Raymond Daley, of Kilnwood Avenue Hockley in Essex, was ordered to pay a confiscation under the Proceeds of Crime Act of £25,000 and also prosecution costs of £11,000.

The court order follows Daley’s conviction of six counts of providing unlicensed security guards to a school in Acton, and failure to provide information to the regulator, as we brought a prosecution  in November 2017. A 12 month conditional discharge for each offence was recorded.

This case began in April 2016 when our investigators inspected a school in West London. They found three security guards working without a licence who were contracted to work by Guard International Professional Services. They also uncovered that Daley had held a contract with this school to supply security since 2008 and these three individuals had worked unlicensed for a prolonged period.

When invited to a formal interview with our SIA investigators, Daley denied his involvement and said that his friend, who died in April 2016, ran the company. He claimed he had nothing to do with the contract to supply security at the school but was the operations manager for Guard UK International Ltd and responsible for ensuring that the security guards behaved correctly.

However, the security guards who were checked confirmed that Daley was the business owner and their manager. In addition, the invoices sent to the school, were from Guard International Professional Services Ltd and referenced Daley.

During the investigation, our investigators formally requested more information. Daley ignored this, an offence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 (PSIA). The SIA sent a second formal request which Daley returned incomplete, also an offence.  A subsequent financial investigation confirmed that Daley had received payment for the guards who were unlicensed.

Pete Easterbrook, the SIA’s Criminal Investigations Managers said:

“Daley’s conviction concludes a challenging criminal and financial investigation. His guilty pleas demonstrate that he was, at very least, involved in the supply of unlicensed security guards to a school and showed no concern that this may have presented a heightened risk to public safety.

Our use of the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover assets serves as a reminder that regulatory breaches in the Private Security Industry are criminal acts, and we will seek to recover the benefits of such activity.”