Simon Gorton KC and David Tinkler successful in long-running Employment Tribunal

March 4, 2024

Simon Gorton KC and David Tinkler from Exchange Chambers have successfully acted for their client, Greater Manchester Police, in one of the longest running Employment Tribunals dealing with whistleblowing allegations.

Retired officer Peter Jackson, the former head of GMP’s major incident team, alleged that there was a ‘rotten culture of cronyism’ while he was still working at the force. Mr Jackson claimed he was sidelined and passed over for promotion after he claimed he blew the whistle about many highly serious matters including the destruction of human remains of Harold Shipman’s victims carried out without the families’ knowledge, aspects of the investigation into a suspected paedophile, and police tactics in the hunt for killer Dale Cregan.

After he retired in February 2017, after 31 years in the police, Mr Jackson launched an Employment Tribunal case against his former employer.

The Employment Tribunal has been running for more than 2 years with over 100 sitting days.  The hearing bundle exceeded 10,000 pages and Mr Jackson was cross examined for over 4 weeks.  The Tribunal has now ruled that Mr Jackson did not qualify as a whistleblower and all his claims have been dismissed.

The Tribunal found that Mr Jackson had made no protected disclosures and dismissed all his claims.  Whilst unnecessary in the light of this finding, the Tribunal also found that the Mr Jackson was not, in any event, constructively dismissed.

In its 367-page judgment, the Tribunal expressed “considerable reservations” concerning Mr Jackson’s evidence saying he had a “tendency to dramatise, intensify, and exaggerate matters”.  It added that Mr Jackson’s evidence on many aspects of his claims was “simply not reliable”.

To read the full judgment please click here.