A Dorset man must pay more than £2,000 for providing and supplying illegal security services without a proper licence.

On 2 December 2022, Benjamin Peter John Head, of Bournemouth, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty at Poole Magistrates’ Court on 17 June 2022 to providing and supplying illegal security at various venues in the seaside town.

The court fined him £500 and ordered him to pay court costs of £1,500 and a victim surcharge of £50.

The case was brought by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) following an investigation by its criminal investigation team.

Dorset Police provided intelligence to the SIA that a door supervisor named Ben Allen – also known as Ben Head – was working without a valid SIA licence.

A witness statement, signing-in registers and incident reports for the venues showed entries for Ben Allen as a door supervisor on multiple occasions.

They also revealed he worked for a company called Bency Bouncers Ltd.

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He used a door supervisor licence number ending with the same digits as those of a genuine licence held by a person with a similar name.

The SIA contacted the genuine licence holder, who provided a witness statement confirming that he had held a door supervisor licence since 2017 and that his latest licence was renewed in 2020.

He said that he had never worked or visited Bournemouth, and that the entries in the signing-in registers and incident logs at the venues were not made by him.

During an interview under caution in September 2021 Benjamin Head admitted that he had worked at various venues in Bournemouth as a door supervisor.

Head maintained that he held a genuine door supervisor licence. He also admitted to setting up the company Bency Bouncers Ltd to supply security staff to venues in Bournemouth area.

The SIA’s investigation revealed he worked without a genuine licence and was an unlicensed director of a body corporate providing security services to various venues.

Nicola Bolton, one of the SIA’s criminal investigation managers said: “Benjamin Head pleaded guilty to working without a valid door supervisor licence and to supplying security to his clients when he was not licensed to do so.

“Moreover, he used someone else’s licence number as his own and knowingly misrepresented the facts about his illegal activities.

“The SIA’s investigation has resulted in him no longer being able to work as a security operative himself or supply security as a company director. He has been fined and now has a criminal record.”