A company and its directors have been convicted and sentenced for operating unregistered children's homes in Kent following a criminal prosecution brought by Ofsted.
- Following a criminal investigation by Ofsted, Catalyst Care Limited becomes the first unregistered children's home provider to be successfully prosecuted
- The company and its 2 directors were fined a total of £92,400 after pleading guilty to carrying on and/or managing illegal children's homes in Kent
- Directors sent repeated warnings from Ofsted while receiving over £1.7 million from local authorities
The prosecution marks a significant milestone that highlights the serious risks illegal providers pose to vulnerable children.
The directors of Catalyst Care Limited were repeatedly warned by Ofsted that they were breaking the law, yet continued operating contrary to the legal requirements for registration. During this time, the homes received over £1.7 million in payments from placing authorities.
Catalyst Care Limited, and its directors, Davidson Lynch-Shyllon and Miriam Ekathor, pleaded guilty to all charges at Croydon Magistrates' Court on 9 March 2026. On 4 August 2026, they were fined a total of £92,400 for operating 3 unregistered homes in Kent between October 2022 and April 2025, providing accommodation for 9 children. They were also ordered to pay victim surcharges totalling £2,960 and costs of £17,250.
Lynch-Shyllon and Ekathor were also disqualified from carrying on and/or managing or having a financial interest in a children's home.
All children's homes in England must register with Ofsted and carrying on or managing a home without registration is a criminal offence. Unregistered children's homes operate outside of independent and regulatory oversight, meaning the children placed there have no assurance of safe or suitable care. There are no guaranteed checks on staff or living conditions, or accountability when things go wrong. Worryingly, many children placed in illegal homes are often those with the most complex needs.
Criminal investigations into these places are complex and the legal threshold for prosecution is high. Yesterday's case is the first successful prosecution of its kind, but follows hundreds of warnings issued by Ofsted over the use of unregistered provision, which has grown partly because not enough registered homes are in the right location or have staff with skills to effectively care for children with complex needs. Illegal unregistered providers frequently charge local authorities exorbitant fees, further exploiting a system already under strain.
Ofsted has recently been granted new powers through the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act to help tackle illegal children's homes. They include the introduction of financial penalties, which will allow Ofsted to issue fines to illegal children's homes.
Boosted by increased funding, Ofsted is greatly expanding its Unregistered Social Care team to identify and investigate unregistered providers and pursue enforcement action, including prosecuting, where necessary.
Ofsted is also consulting on changes to its inspections of local authorities' children's services, including how it evaluates local authorities' use of unregistered children's homes. Measures proposed include making use of illegal placements a limiting criterion in the framework for inspecting local authority children's services (ILACS), meaning that a local authority would not be meeting the 'expected standard' in the proposed 'impact of leaders' evaluation area.
His Majesty's Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver said:
It is heartbreaking that so many vulnerable children are placed in unregistered children's homes where we have no assurance that they are safe or receiving the care they need and deserve.
This outcome marks an important milestone in our efforts to tackle illegal children's homes and sends a clear message that operating outside the law will have consequences. We are determined to make increased use of prosecutions to tackle the offenders running these settings. We are currently consulting on proposals to downgrade local authorities who commission these illegal homes.
Children and Families Minister, Josh MacAlister, said:
This prosecution is a welcome start to our wider crackdown on illegal children's homes, and we have given Ofsted new powers to issue fines under the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Act.
Vulnerable children deserve to be safe and properly cared for, and I want to see more action of this kind. This case should send a clear signal to anyone running an illegal children's home: the law will catch up with you and you will face consequences.
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