Unlicensed door supervisors fined for working at Eastbourne venues

The duo were recently sentenced at Lewes Crown Court following their guilty pleas in breach of the Private Security Industry Act in a prosecutions brought by the Security Industry Authority.

Edward Chi-Mon Chung from Eastbourne was ordered to pay a £1,000 fine and subject to a Proceeds of Crime confiscation order of £10,118.60. He was ordered to pay £1,095 within three months of the date of his January sentence.

Reyano Leon, from Bromley was fined £500 and also handed a Proceeds of Crime confiscation order of £5,670.49 and was required to pay £500.77.

Nathan Salmon, the SIA’s criminal investigations manager, said, “Chung and Leon were unlicensed. They knew they were unlicensed, and they paid a heavy penalty for their criminality. They have also incurred criminal records. These men were working illegally and betrayed the trust of the venue whose customers comprise families and young people.”

A statement this week from the Security Industry Association said Chung and Leon appeared at Hastings Magistrates’ Court last July.

Chung pleaded guilty to working as an unlicensed security operative on 106 occasions at the Eastbourne venue.

The SIA said he worked illegally right up to the moment on January 8 2020 when the SIA’s Criminal Investigation Team sent him a letter inviting him to Eastbourne Police Station for a formal interview.

Reyano Leon also pleaded guilty at Hastings Magistrates’ Court in July to working as an unlicensed security operative 91 times at the same venue. Leon worked between 31 May 2019 and 29 September 2019 despite his SIA Licence expiring on March 23 2019.

Sussex Police passed the case onto the SIA following an assault on a patron at the restaurant.

SIA investigators said they identified the level of criminality by checking the signing-in book at the venue.

Further checks revealed that Chung and Leon had been working at various venues in the Eastbourne area on behalf of their employer without the correct SIA licenses being in place.

The SIA has not named the restaurants.