A former police officer was ostracised by colleagues, verbally abused, assaulted and then unfairly sacked after he complained that standards of work in a 'toxic' gun licence vetting unit were putting the public at risk, an employment tribunal has found.
Tim Lumb, 48, was subjected to what he describes as a 'horrendous' ordeal after he made allegations about working practices inside GMP's Firearms Licensing Unit, where he worked as a civilian researcher.
The married former cop, from the High Peak, made a whistleblowing disclosure to his boss on October 4, 2017, alleging colleagues in the unit were putting the public at risk by failing to research phone, business, GP and internal police records during a review of gun licences.
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After 'inadequacies' were uncovered, an internal review of 10,000 paper gun licences issued by Greater Manchester Police was initiated in 2015. The M.E.N. reported at the time that a senior official at the unit was suspended.
Mr Lumb told an employment tribunal held in Manchester that he became so concerned about working practices in the unit - based at GMP's Nexus House in Ashton-under-Lyne - that he started a diary of his concerns and eventually made whistleblowing allegations to his boss, Alex Millet, a retired superintendent who had returned to head up the department.
After informing Mr Millet of his concerns on October 4, 2014, Mr Lumb said he later penned 'trigger notes'. He alleged colleagues whose work he was complaining about must have read these notes, as he found them 'poking out' of his briefcase when he returned to his desk.
In the days that followed, he said colleagues ignored him, gave him 'dirty looks' and refused to hand him work for checking.
He told the tribunal: "I had made some notes about all the issues over the previous 18 months or so, and took them with me to the meeting… These notes included examples of other researchers not checking the files properly and in the meeting I again voiced my concerns over potentially dangerous people having access to firearms.
"I reminded Alex Millet of the implications for the department should somebody get hurt, or worse, from a firearm which got into the wrong hands and that, as manager, it was ultimately his responsibility to make sure that did not happen.
"I explained that my role had changed, and it was virtually impossible for me to do any research now (which is what I was contracted to do) because I was constantly being given other researchers' files to check and discovering issues with most of them. I was also discovering an increasing amount of files with things missing when they came to me for (Police National Database) checks.
"Alex Millet listened to what I had to say and said it was totally unacceptable and promised that things would be changing and for the better. For the first time I actually believed that something would get done."
He described an incident that allegedly became known as 'shingate' in the office. He told the tribunal another researcher, Lee Parkin, tripped him up in the office, and that a colleague who was in the office at the time, Debbie Collins, was 'trying not to laugh'.
Mr Parkin allegedly told Mr Lumb he had 'walked into my foot'. In his evidence to the tribunal, Mr Parkin said it had been an accident and that his colleague had clipped him and it had made him 'fall forward slightly'.
But the employment tribunal said Mr Parkin's evidence was 'unconvincing' and agreed with Mr Lumb that he had been assaulted and that Ms Collins had laughed at him.
At the time Mr Lumb made an official complaint and said he told Alex Millet 'resentment towards him had been brewing since they found out he had made disclosures about their work standards by opening his briefcase'.
The tribunal panel also found another colleague, Jerry Pointon, muttered obscenities to Mr Lumb in the office such as 'f***ing k***head', often disguised as a cough. This was denied by the official to colleagues, but he did not give evidence to the tribunal.
The panel found it was 'likely that the claimant was ignored by the other researchers' and Mr Lumb 'has established the allegation of being called obscene names'.
The whistleblower, a former constable with Derbyshire Police, alleged another researcher spent time 'running his own business' on his mobile phone at work, and had allegedly told colleagues 'slow it down boys, there is some mileage in it yet'. The panel made no findings on this allegation.
The tribunal heard that Mr Lumb and Mr Pointon's contracts were terminated. Mr Millet told the tribunal Mr Lumb 'did not appear willing or able to draw a line under matters and move on'.
The tribunal heard Mr Lumb secretly recorded a meeting he had with HR boss Laura Ansbro-Lee. She was recorded stating she did not have to give Mr Lumb a reason for terminating his contract 'because you are an agency worker'.
But she went on to say there had been 'a number of incidents' in the unit which had been 'completely toxic'. She is recorded saying Mr Lumb and 'Jerry' would have faced disciplinary action had they been police staff members rather than agency workers, the tribunal heard.
The panel in the employment tribunal found in Mr Lumb's favour that he suffered a number of 'detriments', including Debbie Collins laughing about the kicking incident, that Lee Parkin assaulted him, that Jerry Pointon had muttered obscenities at him, that he was ignored by other researchers and was isolated by his peers, and that his contract had been terminated with a refusal to give reasons for it.
But, they said they were 'in doubt' he had made proper whistleblowing disclosures and that there was a chance the detriments he suffered were simply down to 'animosity' towards his view of their work standards.
Mr Lumb appealed the ruling and this month an Employment Appeal Tribunal reversed the decision, concluding Mr Lumb had made a formal whistleblowing disclosure. In a published ruling, the chair of the panel Judge Liz Ord said 'the claimant made a protected disclosure on 4 October 2017', and so his complaint 'is well founded and succeeds'.
A 'remedy hearing' has been scheduled for January to work out compensation GMP must pay Mr Lumb.
The married father, who spent two-and-a-half years at the gun vetting unit, told the M.E.N: "It's left my life completely upside down. I've lost my house. I had to move out because I couldn't pay the mortgage and I haven't been able to work since. It's been wholly horrendous."
He added: "This has put me on medication. I've been diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety. It's five years later but I still can't work because of the things they said. The fact checks weren't being carried out thoroughly... then they get missed off files. And if they are missed off files, then informed decisions cannot be made on someone's suitability to have a firearms licence."
Mr Lumb's solicitor, David Ward, of Blacks Solicitors, told the M.E.N: "I'm really pleased for Tim. I've been helping him through this for the last four years and we got the right result in the end.
"His workplace was dysfunctional. That's accepted by the judgment. It was a very negative atmosphere and that's not a good cocktail when you are dealing with firearms applications. In terms of public safety, firearms applications are probably one of the most important things, other than airport screening in terms of security. Therefore you need a well-oiled machine in terms of vetting these applications."
A GMP spokesperson said: "We respect the findings of the tribunal and we regret any detriment to which Mr Lumb’s personal and professional life may have suffered as a result of the circumstances outlined in the hearing.
"The tribunal found no reason to believe that Mr Lumb being a whistleblower was the reason other agencies were informed by us that he’d been involved in what we believed to be a serious incident and a criminal offence.
"Much of what was heard during proceedings concerns staff who are not now in our Firearms and Explosives Licensing Unit, and we are totally focused on working robustly to ensure adequate checks are thoroughly conducted before applications are approved and licenses are issued.
"We conduct more checks than the requirement set by statutory Home Office guidance – meaning last year we revoked 33 certificates and refused 37 applications - and the Combined Authority’s most recent audit of the assessment and approval of applications in 2020 found no issues of concern.
"Our commitment to tackling gun crime does not waiver as we continue to drive down shootings and seize more unlicensed weapons from our streets, ensuring that anyone who shouldn’t have a gun in Greater Manchester doesn’t have a gun.”
It is believed the vast majority of firearms licences are for farmers who want to kill vermin and recreational hunters. They have to be reviewed every five years.
It is believed there are far more weapons than there are gun licences in Greater Manchester. Anyone with a shotgun licence can have as many shotguns as they want under the terms of their licence, while a firearms licence stipulates how many weapons can be legally held.
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