Argus Europe Ltd

Men rescued from sea but Indian crew taken hostage / Deployment of foreign navies fails to curb attacks

By Daniel Howden in Nairobi and Toby Green
Saturday, 29 November 2008

Tony Blair had to be rushed on to his plane at an Israeli airport after one of his British bodyguards accidentally fired his gun causing a security scare.

Nobody was hurt in the incident at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport and Mr Blair’s spokesman said the former Prime Minister had not heard the gunshot.

But an Israeli police spokesman said that in the confusion Mr Blair was hurried on to his plane.

Accidental firings are taken extremely seriously in Israel and its Airports Authority has launched an inquiry.

“One of his bodyguards accidentally fired his gun, and the bullet hit the ground,” said, Maayan Malkin, an IAA spokesman.

The incident took place as Mr Blair was leaving Ben Gurion, the main international airport in Israel, after spending a few days in the country in his capacity as international envoy for Palestinian development.

Since being appointed as Middle East representative for the Quartet - the diplomatic grouping of America, Russia, the United Nations and European Union - Mr Blair has visited many times using commercial and private flights.

Earlier this year Israeli fighter planes intercepted a private jet carrying Mr Blair after the plane failed to identify itself adequately as it approached Israeli airspace.

In June an official farewell on the tarmac at Ben Gurion for Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, ended in chaos after an Israeli policeman guarding the event shot himself dead.

In September another of Mr Blair’s bodyguards left their gun in the lavatory of a Starbuck’s coffee shop near his London home.

Securiplan Plc has been fined £95,000 with £550,000 costs for an offence under the Private Security Industry Act 2001.

The case at Southwark Crown Court on November 7 was for 19 offences of deploying unlicensed security operatives between March and September 2006; hence a £5,000 fine per count. The guarding contractor will also pay the Security Industry Authority (SIA) £550k to meet most of the costs of the investigation and prosecution. It is an offence contrary to Section 5 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 to deploy unlicensed security operatives. The company had pleaded guilty to the offences on November 3. The SIA offered no evidence against a director of the company and he was acquitted.

Speaking on behalf of the company, Andrew Mitchell QC said at an earlier hearing: "Securiplan apologises for the continued deployment of unlicensed guards for up to six months after the enforcement date, which had the effect of undermining the regulatory regime that was designed to protect the public."

Before sentencing, His Honour Judge Rivlin QC said: "Knowing perfectly well that deployment was against the law, in a period of approximately five months, Securiplan deployed many unlicensed operatives. This was, I am satisfied, the consequence of a deliberate commercial decision arrived at in the hope and expectation that the heavily stretched SIA would take no action against them. These counts constitute wholesale breaches of the Act. This is a particularly serious matter as Securiplan were amongst the leaders in the field. Any such policy had grave consequences not merely in terms of deployment, but in undermining the new licensing regime. In some cases, Securiplan entered into new contracts, or rolled over existing contracts, knowing the inevitable outcome would be that those companies would be recipients of unlicensed guards. The SIA has, in my judgement, quite rightly not prosecuted individuals who were sent out unlicensed - they have prosecuted the real offenders. Those individuals should never have been placed in such an invidious position by their employer, who was in a position of trust with their employees. Certain employees were treated in a disrespectful manner. The widespread nature of offending and continuance over time has resulted in this being an obviously serious case. The gravity of the situation is only exemplified by the fact that 20 major companies, including companies of national renown, chose to terminate their contracts with Securiplan. In consequence of its action, this company has already suffered very substantial financial losses due to contracts being lost or terminated by customers. I am satisfied that this ran into millions of pounds of lost business. I must stress that it was, in my opinion, entirely self-inflicted."

Taking into account mitigating factors such as; the company’s financial losses, the company’s public apology to the SIA, difficulties of the transition to licensing, previous good character and the length of the investigation, Judge Rivlin said: "I must look at the overall scale of offending which was serious and financially driven. It is important that companies in this industry should appreciate the seriousness of the legislation and the seriousness of the failure to comply."

During earlier proceedings, the judge made clear that, in his view, the SIA had acted with complete propriety in this case. Andy Drane, SIA deputy chief executive, said afterwards: "The judge has made clear that this was serious offending and prosecution was justified. This guilty plea and the sentences imposed by the court bring to an end a long process of investigation and proceedings in which the SIA has been subjected to fierce and relentless legal challenges. As a result of these findings, the regulatory regime has been strengthened and this enhances the protection of the public. I am pleased that, during this case, our power to prosecute generally has been confirmed and that it was found we have acted with complete propriety. This brings this matter to a close and we will move forward constructively recognising that these events occurred in 2006. I wish to pay tribute to the commitment and resilience of the SIA investigators in this case and to the quality of advice and support given to us by our legal advisors."

The British Security Industry Association after the case welcomed what it termed the robust action taken by the Security Industry Authority against Securiplan plc.

BSIA Chief Executive, David Dickinson, commented afterwards: “As a strong supporter of the Private Security Industry Act, the BSIA welcomes this action which follows the deployment of unlicensed operatives by Securiplan. We and our members support robust investigation of breaches of the Act and are pleased that this case has been brought to an appropriate conclusion. We also welcome the fact that Securiplan will pay £550,000 costs to the SIA, a cost which licence payers may otherwise have incurred.

“The regulatory regime has certainly been strengthened through this case and its conclusion has provided clarity to any company tempted to deploy unlicensed operatives that this approach will not be tolerated.”