A convicted murderer has lost a case against the Royal Mail after he alleged that the company breached his human rights by sacking him.
Roger Kearney was fired from his job as a van driver for the Royal Mail in January 2010 for gross misconduct, but was not convicted of murder until June when a jury at Winchester Crown Court found him guilty of murdering his married lover Paula Poolton. The six-week murder trial heard that Kearney stabbed her seven times and left her body in the boot of his car after she put pressure on him to move in with her.
Kearney told a Reading employment tribunal that he had been fired prematurely because he was not found guilty of the offence until later in the year and he claimed lost earnings from the date in January when he was sacked until June when he was convicted. The Royal Mail told the tribunal that he was sacked in January as they were concerned that he could be a risk to the public and because the charge he was to stand trial on was “particularly violent”.
A spokesman for the company said: “Royal Mail is pleased that the tribunal has ruled against Mr Kearney. We always felt that we had followed the correct employment procedures and did what was right. We could not understand why this action was brought.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/murderer-loses-unfair-sacking-claim-2223091.html