This is not a work of fiction - this is a true story.

Corrupt:
To change from good to bad in morals, manners or actions.

To degrade with unsound principles or moral values.

To become tainted or rotten.

To become morally debased.

Above: ‘Corrupt’: taken from the Merrian-Webster Online Dictionary.

Introduction.

Between September - November 1997, a series of events began to unfold, which, in the space of only 18 months would permanently and dramatically change the lives of a number of people.

What began as a dismissal for one member of staff at South Tyneside Council escalated into the most unbeleivable series of events including false claims of harassment, several internal investigations into bogus allegations, dismissals and attempted dismissals, demotions, disciplinary hearings, fictitious complaints, allegations of serious criminal activity and management lies and incompetence imagineable.

By mid 1999 there were no less than 4 authorities and organisations involved in the ensuing mayhem - South Tyneside Council, North Tyneside Council, Northumbria Police and 'The Public Service Union' - UNISON.

With the noteable exception of North Tyneside Council, the remaining authorities and organisations were and are as inept as each other, but two authorities stand out from the crowd - South Tyneside Council and UNISON, the latter at both South Tyneside local government branch and Newcastle regional level.

Innocent members of staff were arrested and suspended in differing measure between South and North Tyneside Council, in an incident which became known locally in the media and TV as the "CCTV Case".

Despite veiled legal threats to prevent us from making this website, here is our story.

To those individuals involved in this Labour local government - led fiasco, if your name appears on here then we have irrefuteable proof of your involvement. It is our right to tell the truth and to express our views and opinions, and we would be happy to face you in court - as we are prepared to do so.

For those of you responsible for the mayhem caused and the allegations made; until now everything has been kept in your favour via denials and lies from yourselves, your employer and your union. We, your victims, have all suffered extensive financial hardship, job loss, and loss of physical and mental health while you carried on with your lives as if nothing were the matter.

Your time is now up, as is your anonymity.

To all those involved - you have been given every opportunity to resolve these matters amicably. Your lack of co-operation has resulted in this website. You can take our offer of negotiation and settlement or leave it. If you leave it, then expect the full details of your identities and actions to be uploaded to this site - and we mean every last detail.

We are open to any peaceful negotiations and settlement from any of the authorities, organisations or individuals concerned (via court, private settlement or otherwise). We would also be happy to amend any details which you may feel are misleading or untrue. Simply supply the relevant proof with your name and contact details via our email address and we will happily rectify it for you.

We have aimed to ensure that all articles within this website are true and accurate. We suggest that all readers should take the time to read "Article 10 - Freedom of Expression - Human Rights Act 1998" as displayed upon this site.

Negotiate - communicate - talk. How this ends is up to you.

Below is a precis of the events, all of which will be covered in acute detail on the relevant pages of this website. See top navigation bars for selected accounts.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS.

September 1989 – November 1997.

Prior to the events in question, we were all employed by South Tyneside MBC as Team Leaders and Mobile Wardens for the Central Control Unit/Warden Services at South Tyneside Council. The control room dealt with alarm calls from the elderly and the CCTV system for South Shields town centre.

One of our colleagues, Mr. K.E, was dismissed from duty on 13th November 1997 on the hyped-up grounds of 'gross misconduct' after what was essentially a private argument with a female member of staff. Mr. K.E appealed against this decision vigorously and challenged the outcome, as no witnesses were called or were asked by his union to voluntarily come forward in his defence.

At the same time as this, another Team Leader was investigated and demoted, also for ridiculous charges, whilst yet a third Team Leader, who was suffering from an illness, was in the early stages of disciplinary procedure commencement when he retired on ill health grounds.

20th January 1998.

Prior to an employment appeal hearing, Mr. K.E was advised by Ms. Sue Key (UNISON) that a further charge of 'harassment' had been lodged by a female work colleague at both their union office and with management at South Tyneside Council. Mr. E had not been at his former work premises since September 1997.

7th September 1998.

Our dismissed colleague commenced new employment with NORTH TYNESIDE COUNCIL as CCTV duty controller at North Tyneside Council's CCTV operations control room, North Shields.

May 1999

Approximately two weeks before the 'CCTV incident' occurred, Mr. B.F (Team Leader) met with his Manager of the Warden Services/Central Control Unit - (South Tyneside Council) to inform him that operational procedures were unsafe with the CCTV system. This had already been repeatedly raised at earlier Team Leader/Management meetings at the South Shields based unit.

22nd May 1999

An incident occurred at the South Tyneside Council's Central Control Unit (CCU for short) involving the deliberate erasure of evidence from two CCTV tapes. This had clearly been a deliberate act. Six members of staff working at the Warden Services/Central Control Unit in South Shields were later arrested by police and suspended by their management.

May – June 1999

The Central Control Unit Manager (South Tyneside Council) claimed that he conducted an internal investigation regarding the CCTV incident, prior to any police action. This was strongly denied by the staff. South Tyneside Council Management team met with police and formally involved them in the investigation.

June 1999

Police and management searched all staff lockers at the South Tyneside Council control room looking for a presumed “missing” CCTV tape. This occurred sometime before 15th June.

16th June 1999.

Mr. J.S., an employee of South Tyneside Council, was arrested in his own home on suspicion of “perverting the course of justice”. Another male member of staff from the weekend team was also arrested. The latter employee was to feature far greater than expected in the coming months and years.

17th June 1999.

Mr. B.F, employee of South Tyneside Council, was arrested at his home directly after completing a night shift on suspicion of “perverting the course of justice”. Another female member of staff was also arrested.

21st June 1999.

South Tyneside Council Community Services Management team held management interviews with all six persons who had been arrested and suspended on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. One of the male employees who had been arrested, a former close friend of Mr. K.E, was asked if he had divulged any information regarding the matter to any third parties. He, who had confided in one of us told management, “Yes, to K.E”. Upon this, his management meeting was terminated immediately. Upon leaving the meeting with his union representative (Mr. M. Butler), Mr. Butler asked the remaining suspended members "We have a problem. Has anyone else spoken to 'K.E'?"

Quite what this problem was, or was perceived to be, we still intend to discover.

The arrested male employee (weekend team) was later to become involved in the biggest travesty of this entire case.

28th June 1999.

South Tyneside M.B.C. Community Services Management and Chief Internal Auditor (Mr. Bede Wood) begin to interview some of the rest of the South Tyneside Central Control Unit/Warden Services staff who had not been arrested.

NB: Information discovered after the event. A telephone call was made to Mr. A.K, Assistant Manager, Building Services, North Tyneside Council from Mr. Bede Wood, Chief Internal Auditor, South Tyneside MBC. The telephone call claimed that Mr. K.E was the main suspect in an ongoing police and council management investigation held at the Central Control Unit, South Shields, due to "information received". Mr. Wood directly referred K.E's name to his employer at North Tyneside Council, and stated the following theory to him.

"The offending videotapes were passed out of a window of the South Tyneside Council Central Control Unit premises in Beach Road, South Shields via a nearby kitchen window by an accomplice (named) who still worked at South Tyneside Council. The videotapes were passed out of this window to a former employee of the authority, presently {in 1999} working as a CCTV duty controller with North Tyneside Council, who then took the tapes to his place of work; tampered with the police evidence, then had them returned to the South Shields control room via the same method and technique as described in their alleged egress from the unit. This was done to “bring South Tyneside Council into disrepute”.The former employee was directly named, without any evidence or proof whatsover, as Mr. 'K.E’."

Mr. A.K (North Tyneside Council) made a statement on this telephone call and the content of it.

CCTV video footage of a crime had been deliberately erased from two separate tapes. The police were treating the investigation as “Perverting the course of justice”.

Also on 28th June 1999 Mr. K.E received a message on his home answering machine from his CCTV co-ordinator, Mr. S.B., (North Tyneside Council). Mr. E was not at work on this day.

Above: Kitchen window from where the Unison representative alleged the tapes were passed.

The telephone message was as follows (quote):

“'K', this is 'S' at work. You must phone me and talk to me today. It regards your duties and where you are working over the next few weeks. I want to speak to you in private about it, but as I said I have to speak to you today. It's vitally important that I speak to you. Cheers - thanks.”

Other staff members from South Tyneside Council were now also suffering from anxiety and depression symptoms. A number of individuals were becoming seriously ill as a result.

9th July 1999

A UNISON union meeting with all six members of South Tyneside Council staff, who had been arrested, was held at the South Tyneside branch office in South Shields. Present was Mr. Mervyn Butler, Branch Secretary, and Ms. Sue Key, union representative.

At the meeting, union officials stated that South Tyneside Council Community Services Management (now Neighbourhood Services) had reason to believe that a person from outside the work environment could have conspired with current staff members, and the suspicion was that the video tape involved had been removed from the control room, possibly passed out of a nearby kitchen window, taken to another CCTV control room with the same type of equipment, and tampered with there. The alleged reason for these actions was to “bring the service into disrepute”.

Later information revealed that the allegations were made by none other than the UNISON representative of the South Tyneside Warden Services/Central Control Unit. Supporting her false allegations was an arrested and suspended male member of staff from the weekend team, therefore an official police suspect into the crime committed.

21st July 1999

Telephone calls made to suspended members of staff from Mr. Mervyn Butler, branch secretary, UNISON (South Tyneside) stating that Mr. Alan Starbuck (one of the six people arrested in South Tyneside) had admitted to the offence. Starbuck had a history of behaviour and conduct problems at work since he began working for South Tyneside Council in 1996. Despite numerous complaints directly to the CCU management from members of staff regarding his behaviour, no action was ever taken against him.

22nd July 1999.

Police inform all six staff members at South Tyneside Council that no further action was being taken against them, nor against Starbuck and were all released from bail conditions. This infuriated the remaining members of staff who had endured suspension, investigation and police enquiries.

23rd July 1999

Two members of staff were reinstated by management and returned to work.

26th July 1999

Mr. J.S and another male employee both attended yet another South Tyneside Council Management Interview. They were informed that with reference to the CCTV tape allegations they were now exonerated and reinstated. Both members were unable to return to work due to illness - caused as a direct result of the investigations.

However, Mr. B.F was also reinstated, but immediately informed further charges had been made against him and were warned that he could be dismissed, suspended or face further action. The new allegations were of making anonymous and malicious calls to a male junior member of staff (predominantly working on the CCTV monitoring system) and improper behaviour towards the same at work.

27th July 1999

Mr. B.F contacted Mr. Mervyn Butler (UNISON) to accompany him to a meeting with Mr. Bede Wood (Chief Internal Auditor, South Tyneside Council) with regard to supplying evidence to repudiate charges of making anonymous telephone calls and sending threatening/hate mail. The evidence supplied to Mr. Wood was collated by us, with regard to earlier incidents of the same nature. Previously, the perpetrator of these had been found to be Mr. Alan Starbuck. Despite numerous previous complaints made to management regarding Starbuck's behaviour at work, management did nothing.

Mr. B.F reported that Mr. Bede Wood was disinterested in the evidence presented, but repeatedly questioned Mr B.F as to how and why he was in contact with Mr. K.E - despite the fact that we had been close work colleagues and friends. The UNISON representative and branch secretary, Mr. Butler, considered the meeting to have been a “waste of time” due to the attitude of Mr. Wood.

It was later revealed that Mr. Starbuck did make a full admission to the charges of sending the anonymous letters and telephone calls, claiming it was “a joke”.

NB: Since the letters and the telephone calls were sent to the home of the junior staff member (named), and outside of work, South Tyneside Council's Chief Internal Auditor had no rights to investigate the matter. It should have been passed to the relevant authorities - the police.

5th August 1999

Informed by a member of staff that Mr. Alan Starbuck had been dismissed by South Tyneside Council management on 4th August 1999. No police charges were to follow!

1st September 2000.

Information obtained via Freedom of Information Act. One of our colleagues, Mr. K.E, whilst going about his lawful daily business in Beach Road, South Shields, was attempted to be tracked on the CCTV system. A witness report, written by the South Tyneside Council Warden Services/Central Control Unit Manager and copied to Mr. Bede Wood and Legal Services stated that our colleague was walking past the central control room and "looked in the window". The CCU Manager was instructed by Mr. Wood to attempt to obtain CCTV images to evidence his "eyewitness report".

Our colleague had just left his solicitors office, Hannay & Hannay in Beach Road, South Shields, and was making his way back to his car. General enquiries were made into what we percieved to be an intrusion of privacy, and advice given was that it was indeed an infringement of civil liberty and human rights. See 'CCTV Case' for detailed account and the 'file note of The CCU Manager'.

24th October 2000

Mr B.F and Mr. J.S attend a management meeting at South Tyneside Council and informed that their employment would be terminated on 15th January 2001 on grounds of “capability”.

At the meeting, Mr. E presented evidence which had been collated regarding the CCTV incident, and the evidence of the person responsible for the tape erasure (Mr. Starbuck). Mr. E also demonstrated that he had been made aware that a telephone call from South Tyneside Council had in actuality taken place and caused this situation.

Mr. A.K., (Building Services, North Tyneside Council) agreed this was in fact correct, and named and verified the caller from South Tyneside Council as Mr. Bede Wood.

Upon supplying the information, Mr. E was offered his job back. However, he could not return due to ongoing ill health - a direct result of the false allegations.

3rd November 1999

At the request of Mr. K.E, a meeting was arranged with management from North Tyneside Council and a North Tyneside Council UNISON representative, Mr. M. Stobbart. At no time prior to this meeting had Mr. E been officially offered his job back, nor had there been any contact between himself and his employer.

7th November 2000

Mr. K.E's employment was terminated at North Tyneside Council on the grounds of permanent ill health.

At no time did South Tyneside Council rescind their bogus allegations made, nor would apologise for the situation they placed the innocent parties in.

We were later to discover to our revulsion and astonishment that the 'CCTV tape theory' had in fact been the work of none other than two former 'work colleagues' working at the Warden Services/Central Control Unit in South Shields.

We are currently preparing formal complaints and reports of these matters for Northumbria Police to consider and are pursuing criminal (and possibly civil) charges to be brought against the two conspirators.

Leaving no stone unturned

Changing LINKS

html code for hit counter