Press release

Bolton man sentenced for hospital security fraud

A Bolton man who used his father鈥檚 licence to work as a hospital security guard was exposed when a reference from a friend revealed his dishonesty.

Mohammed Bashir was found guilty of fraud at Bolton Magistrates鈥� Court on 22 February 2022 following his misuse of a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence. 皇冠体育app court handed Bashir a 26-week jail sentence, which was suspended for two years. It also ordered him to do 200 hours of unpaid community service and pay 拢1,000 court costs, plus a victim surcharge of 拢128. Bashir originally pleaded not guilty to the charges at Bolton Magistrates鈥� Court in September 2021.皇冠体育app SIA brought the prosecution.

Bashir鈥檚 criminality came to light when he applied for an SIA licence of his own in July 2020. 皇冠体育app SIA rejected his application due to a string of convictions that disqualified him from being a fit and proper person to bear a licence. Bashir made an unsuccessful approach to the SIA to appeal the decision. He supplied a reference from a long-time friend and colleague, which suggested that Bashir had been working in the security industry, with a licence, for the last three years. 皇冠体育app SIA opened an investigation immediately.

SIA investigators soon discovered that Bashir had falsely claimed to be properly licensed when seeking work from SIA approved contractor Lingwood Security Management Ltd in December 2018. In fact he used his father鈥檚 non-front line licence to work for Lingwood at various NHS hospitals in Northwest England up to the end of February 2019. In May 2019 he also purported to be licensed and presented his father鈥檚 Door Supervisor鈥檚 licence to Radius Security Ltd.

Mark Chapman, one of the SIA鈥檚 criminal investigation managers, said:

Mr Bashir has been found guilty and given a suspended prison sentence for three counts of fraud. We deemed him unfit to hold an SIA licence due to his prior criminality, yet he worked illegally in hospitals at a time when the NHS was severely under pressure and dealing with vulnerable people. 皇冠体育app SIA鈥檚 licensing regime is there to protect the public and keep people safe and he sought to undermine the licensing regime by his dishonest behaviour. This successful prosecution has stopped him in his tracks, and he now has a substantial costs鈥� order to pay.

Notes to editors:

  • By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence
  • Read about SIA enforcement and penalties
  • 皇冠体育app offences committed against the were:
    • 2 counts of Section 2 Fraud by false representation
    • 1 count of Section 6 Possession of articles for use in fraud

Further information:

  • 皇冠体育app Security Industry Authority is the organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry in the United Kingdom, reporting to the Home Secretary under the terms of the . Our main duties are: the compulsory licensing of individuals undertaking designated activities; and managing the voluntary Approved Contractor Scheme.
  • For further information about the Security Industry Authority visit www.gov.uk/sia. 皇冠体育app SIA is also on (Security Industry Authority) and (SIAuk).

Updates to this page

Published 28 February 2022