Officer abandons whistleblowing claims against police at tribunal

Andy Homan claimed he was bullied by his bosses at the driver training unit at Humberside Police after telling them about alleged short cuts they were taking with safety.

The police constable, from Hull, told an employment tribunal he was moved from the driver training unit to a “punishment posting” in Bridlington, the most remote of all the force’s stations.

He took the force to an employment tribunal after claiming he had suffered discrimination as a result of the “public interest disclosures” he had made.

The hearing in Hull had been due to reach a conclusion yesterday, but it ended early after Mr Homan withdrew his case against his employer.

On the first day of the case, employment tribunal judge Humphrey Forrest told Mr Homan he “faced difficulties in this case” and noted a lack of “hard evidence” of bullying.

Humberside Police say they moved him after he rode on a motorcycle with a badly damaged tyre that could have caused a serious accident, the second such incident in 16 months.

Mr Homan admitted during the tribunal in Hull that he would have prosecuted the drivers he saw with similarly worn tyres if he had come across them in his previous role as a traffic officer.

But the officer, who still works for Humberside Police in a different department, claimed the disciplinary action was only taken in March last year because of the information he revealed about health and safety risks.

David Hall, the force’s training manager, said in his statement to the tribunal that “the situation relating to PC Homan was handled reasonably and fairly in all of the circumstances”.

A Humberside Police spokeswoman said the force now considered the matter to be closed after Mr Homan withdrew his claim.

She said: “Humberside Police have always been entirely satisfied that the decision taken to post PC Homan to a different department in Bridlington was a reasonable and proportionate management decision.”