Does the punishment fit the crime?

This seems to be a total anomaly of ‘justice’ and very much an imbalance.

I have covered the issues surround involvement of S.I.A Security staff in stopping fights and then their involvement leads to prosecution or loss of badge. In some areas of the UK, it is a total ‘NO WIN’ situation, in other words, you cannot do right for doing wrong.

I have just been looking through the details from a case in 2019, two groups of males started fighting with each other outside a venue, within feet of the Security team, both groups had been refused entry due to conduct and behaviour.

The Security team stepped in, and as expected, became the focus of attention from the more aggressive group, the result was over in 2-3 minutes without any injuries, one of the security team was over-enthusiastic and his actions could be considered an assault (if he actually made contact with anyone) (despite no complaint)! the other was more defendable as he was clearly controlled and defending a member of the public.

The inbalance

In this case, the persons who were without any doubt the aggressors and the people who started the fighting received an £80.00 Police fixed penalty notice. Done and finished

The two Security staff – both lost their badge and with it their job with an income loss of around £250.00 per week. To me, this does not seem to be a ‘fair and just’ outcome by any means and whilst I agree that the conduct of Security staff must be exemplary, the delays investigation and the speed at which the badge is removed leads to the Security staff being ‘guilty’ and having to prove his innocence, rather than the principle of Innocent until proved guilty.

It seems that neither the Police or S.I.A (Security Industries Association) have not taken into consideration the impact of the suspension of the security staff badge and right to work, they clearly announce ‘Guilty’ until proved innocent.

I would welcome any comments or experiences of this, particularly if you are from the Merseyside area where there seems to be a higher than normal rate of ‘suspensions’ requested by Merseyside Police.