Drug carer sacked for fake gun picture

A project worker at a west Dublin community drugs team was sacked in April of last year after he uploaded to Facebook a staged holiday snap of himself pointing a gun at a blindfolded man’s head.

The Mountview/Blakestown/Hartstown/Huntstown Community Drugs Team Ltd, trading as Adapt, sacked John Brown after discovering the six-year-old photo. Mr Brown was sacked for gross misconduct.

Mr Brown brought an unfair dismissal case against Adapt, and the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has found he was unfairly dismissed and has awarded him €3,230.

The EAT said Mr Brown’s dismissal “was disproportionate and unfair”, but that Adapt “acted in good faith, and with the best of motives, in dealing with this matter”.

The EAT said Mr Brown “made a serious error of judgement, which was unfortunate and tragic for him”.

Adapt provides holistic services to vulnerable users of drugs and alcohol, many of whom have been victims or perpetrators of gun crime.

Mr Brown had provided one-to-one support for service users since January, 2003. The dismissal letter issued by Adapt said that the displaying of the photograph in public, on Facebook, with Mr Brown “in a violent and threatening pose, undermines the professional integrity of Adapt, is unacceptable, and cannot be tolerated in any circumstances”.

Mr Brown told an EAT hearing, in Dublin, that the photo was staged and taken in an amusement park in Thailand in 2008. The gun was fake, as was the ammunition he wore in a band around his waist.

He said he had visited Thailand accompanied by four members of the Travelling community who were in his care. The former drug addict believed it was appropriate to pose for the photograph and compared it to dressing up in a Halloween costume.