Group 4 was a security business operating primarily in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and latterly worldwide.

History

The company was established by Jörgen Philip-Sörensen, as a division of

Securitas AB Securitas AB is a security services (security guarding and mobile patrolling), monitoring, consulting and investigation group, based in Stockholm, Sweden. The group has over 300,000 employees in 53 countries worldwide. Securitas AB is listed at ...

in 1968. The name derives from the fact that it brought together four different British security businesses into a single entity which became known as ''Group 4 Total Security'' and which was demerged from Securitas AB in 1981. Following the decision by the British Government in 1993 to enter into a contract with Group 4 to provide security for prisons, the company was embarrassed after a series of security blunders, including escaped prisoners. It merged with Falck, a Danish security business, in June 2000 to form Group 4 Falck.

Controversies

1993 prisoner escapes in the United Kingdom

In April 1993, Group 4 held what was described by the ''Independent'' as a "carefully stage-managed press conference" to resolve public relations problems after four prisoners were lost in the first seven days of their contract to transport prisoners. Shortly after the press conference it was revealed a further two had been lost. The Campsfield House detention facility, which was near Oxford, had seen hunger strikes and rioting that resulted in a mass escape over the perimeter fence shortly after it opened in 1993. Just one year after then-Labour home affairs spokesperson

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...

declared that a "comedy of errors" was occurring within Group 4, a hunger striker who had been admitted to hospital from the Campsfield House detention centre managed to escape while being transported by Group 4 security officers. The centre suffered further controversy in 1998, when prisoner John Quahquah and eight others were acquitted of charges of rioting and disorder after it was proved that evidence provided by staff was false and unreliable; the centre was shut by

David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2015, and previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough ...

in 2002. In March 2000, six Romanian immigrants absconded from

Oakington Immigration Reception Centre Oakington Immigration Reception Centre was an immigration detention centre located in Cambridgeshire run by UK Visas and Immigration. Originally a World War II airfield, RAF Oakington was used by RAF Bomber Command flying Short Stirling air ...

, then run by Group 4. Twelve asylum seekers absconded from the same centre in 2003 by scaling the perimeter fence and vanishing into the night. Three prisoners also escaped from Peterborough Crown Court in 2001 after attacking Group 4 security officers and locking them in a cell and later on that year a vehicle transferring prisoners from Cambridge to Bedford prison crashed, resulting in the escape of 20-year-old Rodney Buckley.

References

{{reflist Security companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1968 2000 mergers and acquisitions 1968 establishments in England 2000 disestablishments in England