Babatunde Kufuli used a licence bearing another name to work illegally on 46 occasions between June and October 2021.
When SIA operatives questioned Mr Kufuli while working as a door supervisor at a venue in Croydon in October 2021, he fled.
He was summoned to attend City of London Magistrates' Court in January 2023 to answer the charges. He failed to appear, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arrested on 29 May 2024 and pleaded guilty to two charges at High Wycombe Magistrates' Court 30 May.
He was sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on 4 September 2024.
Jenny Hart, Criminal Investigations Manager at the SIA, said:
When somebody works in the private security industry with a cloned licence they put the public, their colleagues and themselves at risk.
Mr Kufuli thought he could take a shortcut to make money while putting people he was hired to protect in danger. When questioned he ran from SIA investigators, trying to escape punishment. Assisted by both the Thames Valley Police Service and the Metropolitan Police Services we concentrated our efforts and combined expertise to track him down.
This conviction shows that we will not stop pursuing those seeking to escape justice by going into hiding. We work with the police to locate and ensure the arrest of those who commit these types of crimes and bring them to the court in custody.
Licensed security operatives undergo robust training requirements to help them protect the public. Untrained and unvetted security operatives with fake or cloned licenses put the public at risk. Anyone suspected of breaking the law should be reported.
Notes
By law, security operatives working under contract must hold and display a valid SIA licence. Information about SIA enforcement and penalties can be found on www.gov.uk/sia.
The offences relating to the Fraud Act 2006 that is mentioned above are:
-
Section 2 - Fraud by false representation
-
Section 6 - Possession of articles for use in frauds
