Anger as blacklister gets just £5,000 fine at Crown Court

Construction blacklister Ian Kerr has been given a fine of £5,000 at Knutsford Crown Court, Cheshire, this morning (Thursday).

Kerr operated a secret blacklisting database containing the names of over 3,000 construction workers.

At today's hearing, he was ordered to pay £5,000, plus around £1,400 in costs, a sentence described as “outrageous” by UCATT’s regional secretary for the north west, George Guy.

“The case was moved to a Crown Court because a £5,000 fine was the maximum allowed in a Magistrates Court, so to end up with a fine no higher than that is very disappointing,” Guy said.

After the hearing, Kerr left by the back of the court, and was driven away in the back seat of a car surrounded by his daughters, with a coat over his head.

Earlier in the day, UCATT had organised a demonstration outside the court.

In March, Kerr's company The Consulting Association admitting to operating a secret blacklist, containing the names and details of over 3,000 construction workers. Over 40 major construction companies used its services to blacklist workers.

Kerr was charged with data protection offences as he was not registered to hold such information.

The case was transferred to Knutsford Crown Court after Kerr failed to appear at the original hearing at Macclesfield Magistrates Court in May.

Kerr faced an unlimited fine at today’s hearing.