The prosecution on Friday brings to an end a case that started in 2017. Between April 2016 and November 2017 a security operative, supposedly named Olukayode Obanla, performed the role of security guard at Haringey Sixth Form College in Tottenham. The guard, who was in fact Owolabi, got the job at the college by using an altered SIA licence. He had failed to get a genuine SIA licence of his own, due to relevant criminal convictions which included using false identity documents.

The investigation began after an anonymous tip off to the SIA and Haringey Sixth Form College. The SIA quickly discovered that the documents Mr Owolabi had used to try and get a licence in his own name were fraudulent.

For more than a year SIA investigators pursued Mr Owolabi in order to interview him, but he refused to engage with them. That left them with no choice but to issue a summons to Mr Owalabi’s last known address in West London. He failed to attend Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 06 November, and as a result the court issued a warrant for his arrest. He finally agreed to appear in court on Thursday 07 November, when he was taken into custody.

Pete Easterbrook, one of the SIA Criminal Investigation Managers, said:

“Mr Owolabi pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud in November and was in jail for two months. Friday’s court hearing has resulted in a substantial community order and a criminal record. Mr Owalabi deliberately deceived his employer. He betrayed the trust and jeopardised the safety of vulnerable young people in his care at Haringey Sixth Form College. Mr Owolabi has also undermined our licensing regime through his criminal acts, which is entirely unacceptable. The Court recognised the seriousness of his criminality, and as such Owolabi was remanded in custody for two months and has now received a substantial community order.”