On Wednesday 11 October a Belfast man was ordered to pay £8,256 within three months by Laganside Crown Court or face a jail sentence.

Christopher Butler was ordered to pay following a Proceeds of Crime Act order brought against him. The Security Industry Authority (SIA) brought the case following several prosecutions it made against Butler and others earlier this year.

On 28 March 2023 Christopher Butler was fined £750 at Laganside Crown Court and ordered to pay £500 prosecution costs. On 25 January 2023 Christopher Butler pleaded guilty to Downpatrick Magistrates’ Court to five offences against the Private Security Industry Act 2001. He was prosecuted for providing illegal security, failing to supply information and giving the SIA false information.

The SIA brought the cases after receiving information that unlicensed security was being provided to a Newtownards bar and restaurant. SIA investigators conducted licensing inspections in Newtownards accompanied by Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers on 12 October 2019. The investigators visited the restaurant and bar where two men were working as security. The area manager of the restaurant said that Strangford Security (Butler’s business) had supplied the illegal workers.

Jenny Hart, one of the SIA’s Criminal Investigations Managers, said: Mr Butler profited from the supply of illegal security to Newtownards’ night-time economy. The court has handed him a substantial Proceeds of Crime Order that must be paid within three months, or he faces a jail term. This order sends a message that the supply of illegal security and profiteering from that will not be tolerated in Northern Ireland. The SIA will react to information about illegal security. Butler attempted to skew the market by undercutting businesses that operated legally in the supply of security. This recent POCA Order addresses this and confirms that crime does not pay. Butler also has a criminal record.