The company was fined £1350 for providing an unlicensed security guard and David Scott was fined £450 having pleaded guilty to the same offence.

Pete Easterbrook, Criminal Investigations Manager at the SIA said:

“The supply of unlicensed security operatives is a serious offence, and I welcome the conviction of GWE Security and David Scott who showed a complete disregard for not only the law but also the expectations of their customers.

Regulation of the security industry has been in place in Scotland for nearly 12 years, and the vast majority of the industry are reputable and provide an important service in terms of protecting the public and property. There remains, however, a very small number of individuals who believe that that the law does not apply to them and that they are beyond our reach of the SIA and those of our partners. Those individuals are mistaken, as this result demonstrates.”

G.W.E Security, based in Renfrew, was, at the time of the offence, owned by Gillian Elliot and was investigated by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) in 2016.

In November 2016, the SIA’s Criminal Investigations Team, received intelligence that that there was an unlicensed security guard working at a construction site on Westmuir Street in Glasgow. The intelligence was accurate and the SIA’s enquiries revealed that the supplier of the unlicensed security guard was G.W.E Security. It is illegal to provide unlicensed security operatives and as a result, this was reported to the Procurator Fiscal.

Pete Easterbrook also said:

“The nature of the security industry in Scotland has changed dramatically since regulation was introduced. There is no place for unscrupulous security companies and criminality of any sort in the industry will not be tolerated. We will continue to investigate and seek the prosecution of those who engage in unlawful conduct.”