Leeds security boss and unlicensed doorman found guilty

December 6, 2019

The director of a security firm has pleaded guilty to repeatedly deploying an unlicensed doorman to venues around Leeds.

Haidar Mumtaz, a former director of 2 B Secure from Keighley, sent Steven Hare from Bradford to work as security at the Baracoa, the Rosse, and the Bierkeller in Leeds on no fewer than 24 occasions between December 2018 and February 2019. Hare was not properly licensed at the time, and as a result the SIA prosecuted them.

Mumtaz also neglected to inform the SIA that in February 2019 he had been charged with a number of offences relevant to his own status as an SIA licence holder. This duty to report is a condition of the licence, and failure to do so is an offence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

Mumtaz was ordered by Leeds Magistrates’ Court on 07 November to undertake 120 hours of unpaid community service, to be completed in 12 months. He must also pay costs of £633, plus a victim surcharge of £90.

Hare, who appeared before the magistrates on 30 September, was fined £80.  The court also ordered him to pay costs of £629.33, plus a victim surcharge of £30.

Pete Easterbrook, of the SIA Criminal Investigation Team, said:

“The court rightly took the view that unlicensed and unregulated security staff are a significant risk to the public. Both Mumtaz and Hare, as employer and employee, had a responsibility to ensure that licensable activity was taking place in accordance with the law. They failed in that duty. Mumtaz also committed a clear breach of the conditions of his licence by failing to inform us that he had been charged with relevant offences earlier this year. This came to light due to a routine formal disclosure to us by West Yorkshire Police. Licence holders in a similar position are reminded that they are required to notify the SIA of any charge or conviction obtained whilst they are licensed. We will always consider the circumstance of any notification in line with our published approach, however failing to notify the SIA at all is a criminal offence and one which we will treat seriously.”

Hare had been issued with a Licence Dispensation Notice (LDN) by an SIA Approved Contractor. We authorise approved contractors to issue an LDN in order to deploy security staff while their licence application is being processed. An LDN is not transferable, and therefore Hare was committing an offence by working for a company other than an approved contractor who issued him with the LDN whilst he did not hold a full licence.