Birmingham Airport security trainer sentenced after pleading guilty to forgery
An airport security training instructor who admitted forging training certificates and training records has been ordered to undertake unpaid work.
Shoaib Iqbal, of Birmingham, had pleaded guilty to falsifying training certificates and training records for security operatives whilst working at Birmingham Airport, following an investigation led by the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Iqbal, 40, was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court yesterday (Friday) to two years' custody, suspended for two years, and ordered to perform 200 hours of unpaid work.
Iqbal was also ordered to pay costs of £750 to the UK’s aviation regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, which brought the prosecution.
In its role to ensure the aviation industry manages security risks effectively, the regulator found that Iqbal had forged documents relating to the certification of airport security operatives.
All security operatives at UK airports must be trained by a certificated aviation security instructor.
The forged training certificates and records implied refresher training had been completed, when it had not been.
Although no harm was caused in fact, the integrity of the aviation security system was breached causing a risk of harm to the airport’s security operations. Birmingham Airport had to urgently retrain and redeploy staff.
Peter Drissell, director of aviation security for the Civil Aviation Authority, said: “The UK’s high standards of aviation security rely on ensuring that appropriate training is delivered to staff across the industry by qualified instructors via registered training providers.
“We uncovered a clear abuse of trust and responsibility by someone working in airport security at one of the UK’s main airports.
“By prosecuting we are protecting the public and professional confidence in the high standards set for aviation security in the UK.”
