A COMPANY boss has admitted being an unlicensed security director that was providing door staff to pubs throughout Gwent.

Nicholas Seabrook, aged 30, of Hodges Crescent, Pengam, near Blackwood, broke the law as the chief of NPS Security Ltd between August 2018 and this July.

During that time, he supplied security services to a number of pubs including the White Hart, the Carpenters Arms and the Ferns in Newport and the Royal Exchange in Brynmawr.

MORE NEWS

Seabrook pleaded guilty to being an unlicensed security director and failing to provide information to the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

He was bailed by Cwmbran magistrates pending a financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The prosecution against Seabrook was brought by the SIA after information was provided by Gwent Police.

The SIA said it sought information from Seabrook which he failed to provide and when interviewed he admitted that he had been operating his business without a licence.

Nathan Salmon, an SIA criminal investigations managers, said: "The private security industry is regulated because Parliament has deemed its operatives require licensing, aimed at protecting the public.

“These regulations are not a barrier for new businesses and the industry continues to grow with new entrants.

“However, the licensing of operatives, and their managers and directors, remains a requirement to trade lawfully.

“Mr Seabrook was aware he needed to be licensed, a Google search had told him so, yet he continued to trade without making his own licence application. This has now placed his business and assets at risk.”

Seabrook will be sentenced in the new year.

The SIA is an organisation responsible for regulating the private security industry.

They are an independent body reporting to the Home Secretary, under the terms of the Private Security Industry Act 2001.