And Once Again, The Taxpayer's On The Hook

When the costs should come out of the pockets of the morons who fired him:

A veteran firefighter who was sacked for throwing away a disabled YouTuber's phone was unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has concluded.

The former firefighter had been fighting a blaze near the banks of the Great Ouse in King's Lynn when he was caught on camera appearing to throw the YouTuber's phone over a hedge.

 And why the bosses' sympathy with a moron attempting to hinder the firefighter in his duties?

Mr Evans, who uses a wheelchair and mobility buggy... 

 Ah.

....had been at the scene of the fire in Hardings Pit. A video filmed by Mr Evans, a self-styled journalist, showed the pair get into an argument over his presence at the scene. The self-proclaimed 'auditing' content creator can he heard saying 'I'm press, mate' and that he was 'legally allowed to do it' as the fire chief approached him. Mr Linden told him that he was 'putting himself in danger' and urged him to leave.

And when he didn't listen and continued shoving his phone in the fireman's face regardless, he did what anyone harrassed by these idiotic 'auditors' would do,  

At an employment tribunal last month, Mr Linden - who had served for 32 years - argued he had been unfairly dismissed by Norfolk Fire Service.

Employment Judge Andrew Spencer said: 'In recent years, [Mr Linden] and his work colleagues have had to deal with self-proclaimed social media 'auditors'.

'These individuals attend sites and public spaces to film emergency workers, often uploading the content to social media platforms.

'Some aim to generate online content by behaving aggressively and obstructively, seeking to capture negative responses with a view to posting this online.

'It is possible to monetise the results through social media channels such as YouTube.'

 And just because this fat fuck was also a cripple the fire brigade higherups took his side, more concerned at the image than of the trouble he caused the firemen. Do they not realise if it had gone to court, a jury would have likrely said 'serves the little bugger right' and acquitted?

Judge Spencer found there were procedural failures during the investigation that led to Mr Linden being unfairly dismissed. He said the investigation needed to be more 'rigorous' for a potentially 'career-ending decision'.

Yes, and it should also have been fait. But it wasn't: 

Judge Spencer said that the police fire chief had directed Mr Rowe not to interview members of the crew, who could have been witnesses to the incident. The judge said: 'This was inappropriate - it amounted to a clear instruction to Mr Rowe not to interview potential witnesses to take statements from them. 'It sought to restrict the scope of the investigation. Mr Rowe complied with this. He did not interview the witnesses or take formal statements from them. 'It was inappropriate for the chief fire officer to be giving that instruction and to interfere with the scope of the investigation.'

What brings more opprobium on the fire brigade - a fireman who acts as anyone else would do when faced with a harassing nuisance, or corrupt fire brigade bosses who seek to oust someone by these methods because they know they are the ones in the wrong?