A counter-terror police officer who was sacked after he forgot his headphones was unfairly dismissed, an employment tribunal has ruled. Colin Bastin had been given a private room by a librarian to dial in to a call which he had been unable to take from home because of 'noisy' building works. He claimed there were no police stations 'within easy access of his home' where he could go for the meeting, the tribunal heard.
What about the police station he was assigned to? In other words, his office...?
The National Counter Terrorism Security Office worker reportedly made a number of other mistakes during his probationary period, including accidentally booking a 'top secret' security level room for a team meeting which would have excluded one of the delegates.
Maybe the cops should look into getting a professional in?
In April 2024, Mr Bastin was told he was facing dismissal and was invited to a meeting.
I wonder if he attended in person, or asked to do that from the library?
He gathered evidence to show his performance had improved, but was told managers would only be considering his performance up to the end of the extended probationary period, which ended in early 2023. After taking his employer to an employment tribunal, a judge ruled his original dismissal was unfair because it was based on 'out-of-date information'.
Well, it would be. What's this judge's issue with that?
'Mr Bastin's performance, which was the reason for dismissal, had been assessed over a fixed period that had ended over a year before the decision was taken,' the judge said. 'It was unfair not to allow him to bring evidence of his recent improvement. 'In conclusion, I find that the dismissal was unfair and outside the band of reasonable responses.'
The probationary period is just that - you're on probation. You'd think a judge of all people would understand the term...
So statute of limitations (don't know UK equivalent name ) starts just after the offence?
ReplyDeleteYus yeronour, the defendant has not murdered any one in the last six years. Case dismissed!
Unless hurty tweety words are involved .
Also I am not reassured that a dodgy Counter Terrorism Occifer is now free to roam. Just think of that next time a totally unidentifiable, face masked, thug, waving a sub-machine gun bursts into your family home at 3am.
Oops, wrong post code.
Also his fellow competent officers will make sure that he leads the charge. They will not want him behind them waving his weapon with finger on trigger. Having forgotten to tie his boot laces.