Suspended sentence for unlicensed door supervisor

An SIA investigation found that Karl Alexander Morrison, now known as Karl O’Brien, was working without an SIA licence at an illegal traveller’s encampment in Coventry, following intelligence received from Warwickshire Police in April 2017. It was discovered that Nottinghamshire Police were also gathering evidence of Morrison working without a licence, at a pub in Sutton in Ashfield.

investigators looked up his licensing history and found that he had a pending application to work in the close protection sector under the name Karl O’Brien. He had also asked for an overseas criminality check exemption claiming he lived abroad from 2011-2016.

To receive an overseas criminality check exemption, you need to send SIA a character reference and a signed and sworn oath from an EU registered solicitor to prove there are no criminal convictions for the relevant period. However, when SIA contacted the Prison Service, they confirmed he had been in prison at various times and resident in the UK during those years. Investigators suspected that Morrison had applied under a different name because his previous offending would have meant he would not be granted an SIA licence. Morrison failed to send a character reference or sworn oath and no further action was made to his application.

On 26 October, at Leamington Spa Magistrates Court Morrison was found guilty of working without an SIA licence. He was sentenced to eight weeks in prison suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £500.

SIA criminal investigations manager Pete Easterbrook said: “As the SIA investigated Morrison, our Investigators found him to be a volatile and aggressive individual. I am of the opinion that had he continued to work in a security related role, it is likely that the public would have been exposed to considerable risk.  I am pleased that this risk has now been addressed, and I would like to thank both Nottinghamshire Police and the witnesses in this case for supporting the SIA to secure this conviction.

“I share the concern expressed by the court that someone with Karl Morrison’s offending history was found working in the security industry. I am satisfied that the sentence imposed in this case reflects the seriousness of the offences he committed.”

“This case serves to highlight that there that there is no place whatsoever within the security industry for those who deliberately undermine the safeguards that regulation provides - those who do can expect to be dealt with robustly.”