Care provider fined after first prosecution for operating unregistered children’s homes

Catalyst Care Limited became the first unregistered children’s-home operator to be prosecuted after its directors, Miriam Ekhator and Davidson Lynch-Shyllon, pleaded guilty at Croydon Magistrates’ Court. The company ran three homes in Kent from 2022 to 2025, accommodating up to nine children and receiving over £1.7 million in local-authority payments despite repeated warnings from Ofsted. The court imposed total fines of £92,400, victim surcharges of £2,960, costs of £17,250, and disqualified the directors from managing or holding a financial interest in any children’s home.

Ofsted officials stressed that unregistered homes lack oversight, putting vulnerable children at risk, and noted an estimated 900 illegal homes operate nationwide. The children and families minister, Josh MacAlister, called the ruling a “welcome start” to a broader crackdown on illegal care provision.