Electrician Sacked For Playing Porn Video In Council Meeting Claims It Was A 'Goose Honking'

An electrician working for the council was sacked after he appeared to accidentally play a porn video during a busy meeting - then claimed it was the sound of a goose honking.

David West was working for Redditch Borough Council and was in a staff briefing with more than 100 colleagues when he opened the WhatsApp message of a woman having an orgasm.

The meeting was interrupted by the sound of 'three to four sexual moans' coming from his phone that lasted around 30 seconds as Mr West could be seen 'frantically' tapping on his mobile.

Redditch Borough Council

After he was sacked, Mr West tried to claim that he had been dismissed unfairly, saying that the noises had been a video of a 'goose honking'.

During an employment tribunal it was heard how Mr West had been working for the council since 2000 carrying out the role of Electrician/Multi Trade Operative at the council's Crossgate site.

The staff briefing took place on 29 January 2019 and a report from the tribunal states: "During the meeting, the claimant accessed a mobile phone he had with him and opened a WhatsApp message. As a result of this sounds were played at high volume.

"It is accepted by all that this was done accidentally, and the noise was not played deliberately to the briefing. What those sounds were is fervently disputed. The respondent's position is that sounds were of a sexual nature and were the sounds of a female in the act of sexual intercourse having an orgasm.

"The claimant says the sounds were those of a goose calling and the message was not of a sexual nature although he says, 'it could potentially have been mistakenly misinterpreted as such'."

PA

The report goes on: "The claimant attempted to stop the sound by 'frantically tapping the screen' and he says in doing so, he deleted the message in its entirety from the phone. This is also disputed by the respondent. There was some disruption to the meeting and the noise was heard by some attendees and there was some laughing."

The tribunal, which was held in Birmingham, dismissed his claims and rejected his version of events.

Topics: Community, UK

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

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