Mr Billy-Joe Dixon and Mr Craig Smith v The Secretary of State for Justice — 2023

The claimants were prison officers at HMP Belmarsh and were dismissed for gross misconduct after a disciplinary process arising from an incident involving use of force against a prisoner. They accepted that conduct was the stated reason for dismissal, but contended that the investigation and disciplinary process were unfair and affected by irregularities.

The tribunal found that the respondent's investigation was reasonable in the circumstances. Although CCTV from the landing outside the cell was not available at the disciplinary hearing, the tribunal found that this did not make the investigation or disciplinary process unreasonable because it would not have shown the incident inside the cell and the issue was explored during the disciplinary process. The tribunal also rejected complaints about the involvement of Ms Gill, non-disclosure of the management enquiry report, suspension issues, alleged collusion, the handling of SO Churchill's changed account, consistency with the treatment of other officers, and aspects of Mr Dixon's disciplinary hearing.

The tribunal was satisfied that Governor Louis believed the claimants had committed misconduct and that this belief rested on reasonable grounds following a reasonable investigation and disciplinary process. It further found that dismissal was within the range of reasonable responses to the findings made, given that the allegation found proved was treated as gross misconduct. The claims were dismissed.