A MELKSHAM-based security company director and his wife have been ordered to pay a total of £2,390 in fines and costs after he pleaded guilty to working without a licence.

Siobhan McDonald, the director of Morsec Holdings Ltd, pleaded guilty at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on Monday to two offences of providing false information and failing to provide information to the Security Industry Authority.

Her husband Paul McDonald separately pleaded guilty to working without a Security Industry Authority (SIA) licence.

The couple incurred fines and costs totalling £2,390. Siobhan McDonald was ordered to pay fines and costs of £1,360 while Paul McDonald was ordered to pay fines and costs of £1,030.

The pair were prosecuted when Siobhan McDonald submitted an application to join the SIA’s Approved Contractor Scheme (ACS) as the named director of Morsec Holdings Ltd.

Following an approval visit and a series of enquiries into the business and several others linked to it, SIA investigators came to the conclusion that Mr McDonald was in fact the person directing the company.

The SIA investigation revealed that Mr McDonald was unlicensed between June and September 2017, despite clearly acting as a director of a security company.

Mrs McDonald was asked to provide information to the SIA in connection with the inquiry but failed to do so despite being given extra time to respond. This is an offence.

The couple were invited by the SIA to attend a formal interview. Neither attended and the SIA therefore decided to prosecute them.

The application by Morsec Holdings Ltd for ACS status was withdrawn in September 2017. The company trades from a unit on the Evans Business Centre, Hampton Park, Melksham.

Nathan Salmon, SIA’s Criminal Investigations Manager, said Mrs McDonald's ACS application had revealed inconsistencies around the structure of several similarly-named companies owned by Mr McDonald, namely Morsec Holdings Ltd, Morsec Ltd and Morsecurity Ltd.

“In making an application for ACS accreditation in February 2017, Siobhan McDonald provided false information to the SIA regarding the active role of Paul McDonald within Morsec Holdings Ltd in order to gain approval.”

The purpose of the SIA’s Approved Contractor Scheme is to raise standards and promote good practice to create a safer environment for the public and better opportunities for the private security industry.

Companies who abuse the scheme, or make false statements in an attempt to gain accreditation, undermine those standards, Mr Salmon said.

He added: “The SIA will robustly investigate the misuse of the ACS. This conviction highlights the fact that security regulation exists in order to protect the public and ensure the effectiveness of security businesses.”