Fake bouncer ordered to pay £44k or go to jail

Trevor Frater was order to pay £44,518.78 at an appearance at Lincoln Crown Court

A man who ran unlicensed security firms has been ordered by a court to pay more than £44,000 or face eight months in prison, according to the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Trevor Frater, 64, was providing unlicensed staff through two businesses, Elite Security and Elite Door Staff, to companies in Lincolnshire, the SIA said.

He pleaded guilty in September 2024 at Lincoln Crown Court to engaging in conduct not licenced by the private security industry act and was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

After a similar conviction in 2021, Frater said his assets were just over £390, but a SIA investigation found him to have more than £100,000.

At a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court on 13 June 2025 a confiscation order for the sum of £44,518.78 was made.

Frater, of Exley Square, Lincoln, was ordered to pay the money by 25 July or face prison.

He had convictions for similar offences in 2021 and in 2018 when his SIA licence was revoked, the SIA said.

A confiscation order was made after the 2021 court case for the sum of £33,979.51.

Now under the latest Proceeds of Crime Act order Frater will have to pay back the previous amount and an additional amount of £10,539.27.

'Profited substantially'

Pete Easterbrook, director of inspections and enforcement at the SIA, said: "On multiple occasions across the last five years, Trevor Frater has put the public's safety at risk by both acting as an unlicensed security operative and deploying unlicensed security operatives.

"Not only did he put innocent people at risk, but he also profited substantially from these actions.

"These confiscation orders, and especially the reassessment of the 2021 order, make clear to all bad actors within this industry you will not profit from your crime.

"We will find your assets, no matter how they are hidden, and recover them."

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