The general manager of a Michelin star restaurant was sacked after a diner paid with cash and he was caught on CCTV pocketing it and binning the bill, a tribunal heard. Guy Palmer-Brown, 35, had taken the payment of £200 from a regular, wealthy customer who was well known for paying in cash, the hearing was told.
After another staff member highlighted a surprisingly low amount of cash from that night in the till, owner and acclaimed head chef Daniel Smith viewed CCTV footage from that night. The tribunal heard that Mr Smith, named Observer Young Chef of the Year in 2016, was shocked to see Mr Palmer-Brown collect the customer's payment, walk to the end of the bar, count the cash before putting it in his pocket and then toss the bill into the waste bin.
The hearing was also told that later Mr Palmer-Brown even returned to the restaurant, when he felt he was under suspicion, turned the CCTV cameras off and tried to put the cash back. Mr Smith suspended him and, following an internal investigation, he was fired.
